


A Way You Have To Walk Alone

by 318



Series: Trajectory [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Gen, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Thor (Marvel)-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-24
Updated: 2018-11-03
Packaged: 2019-07-17 05:58:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16089485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/318/pseuds/318
Summary: He started feeling sick. Thor had never lost a war and this was the most important one he could think of. For the first time in his life, he didn’t know what to do.After the snap, nothing remained the same. Thor had to find out what his place was in this strange, cruel world.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This whole fic was inspired by one thought - 'What if Thor was the only surviving Asgardian after Avengers 3?' So it's slightly AU - probably.  
> I assume it can be read as a standalone, but of course you are free to read Part 1 and 2 as well ;)  
> At the beginning of each chapter there will be a flashback scene, in case you get confused.  
> I hope you enjoy the final part of my little 'I'm trying to cope with Infinity War but clearly it doesn't work'-trilogy!

‘Thor?’

Yawning, Thor opened his eyes sleepily. ‘Loki?’ he asked and blinked. His little brother stood next to his bed and seemed worried. ‘Are you alright?’ 

‘Ye-yes,’ Loki said, unsure. 

Thor rubbed his eyes. ‘Then go to bed. It’s late and tomorrow is a great day for you.’

He buried his head in the pillows and almost had fallen asleep, when he realized Loki didn’t move. He sighed and sat up. ‘What is it?’

‘I start my warrior training tomorrow,’ Loki said sheepishly.

‘I know.’ Thor frowned. ‘Aren’t you happy?’ 

He clearly didn’t seem happy. When Thor looked down, he saw Loki’s bare feet on the cold stone floor. If he developed a cold, there wouldn’t be any training. So Thor lifted his blanket and invited, ‘Come in.’

Loki eagerly complied and sat down. Thor’s bed was wide enough to fit both children easily. 

‘I thought,’ Loki said with a small voice. ‘When I start warrior training, I’m a warrior, right?’

Thor laughed. ‘Aye. That’s the reason you do it.’ 

‘But warriors go to war,’ Loki declared, angrily that Thor didn’t understand. 

Thor lay down, tired. Sometimes it was hard to have a younger brother. ‘Aye.’

‘And when you go to war, you can… die.’

Now Thor got it. ‘Are you afraid?’ he asked softly.

‘No!’ Loki said quickly. Then he admitted, ‘A little bit.’

‘If you die, you go to Valhalla. And Valhalla is great.’

‘But Mother and Father and you are here,’ Loki answered, embarrassed. 

‘Oh.’ Thor pulled Loki down to lay next to him, face to face. ‘When you go to war, I will go, too. Right?’

‘Probably.’ Loki’s eyes widened, and Thor smiled.

‘Then we will fight together. I will watch over you, and you will watch over me. So none of us will die.’

Loki didn’t seem convinced. ‘You can’t know that.’

‘I do,’ Thor said assuringly. ‘Imagine us fighting side by side. Who could stay in our way?’

His brother cast down his eyes. ‘Someone might.’

‘Aye. Someone might, in the distant future. And then we die together.’ Thor suddenly got excited. ‘We will overstep the threshold of Valhalla side by side, Loki! I think that sounds great.’

‘There’s no guarantee.’

‘ _I_ guarantee you,’ Thor expounded dignified. 

‘Sure,’ Loki admitted, still restrained. ‘But what if we get separated?’

‘We are brothers, Loki,’ Thor said determined. ‘Nothing can separate us, not even death. I promise.’

‘But what if it does?’

‘It will go down trying.’

Finally, Loki smiled. ‘It will.’

  


~~~

  


There was a dead silence, even the Wakandan jungle held its breath. Nobody moved, nobody spoke.

Thor just stared at the soil before his feet and tried to comprehend what happened. They had lost. They had lost not only a battle, also they had lost the war. 

He started feeling sick. Thor had _never_ lost a war. And this was the most important one he could think of. For the first time in his life, he didn’t know what to do. After he was banished to Midgard, he knew he had to regain Mjølnir. Once the Dark Elves killed his mother, he sought revenge. When he stranded on Sakaar, he didn’t think twice about where to go and stopped Hela. Even as Thanos threw Loki’s body at his feet after he had slayed all what’s left of Asgard, he vowed vengeance. 

Now however…

It felt like eternity until Rhodes stirred. ‘I - I think we should - look for the king and…’ His voice trailed off, but all of them woke from their rigidity. Like ghosts they walked to the palace. Thor had no idea where on Midgard he actually was, or of which king the man of iron spoke. And he didn’t care. He simply followed Bruce, who seemed unaware of staying in his suit.

When they reached the plains and walked out of the forest, a woman approached them. Her skin was dark, and with a sudden pang in his chest Thor thought of Heimdall and the last Valkyrie, dead bodies floating through space. He took a deep breath and concentrated on the woman before him. Undoubtedly she was a warrior, clad in a red armor. Thor saw a few of them fight alongside his allies when he joined the battle. Though his arrival couldn’t possibly be more than an hour ago, it felt like in another life. 

‘Captain,’ the woman hissed and clutched Rogers’ shoulders. ‘What happened?’ Thor could see the pain in her gaze and looked away. 

‘We lost, General,’ Rogers answered warily. ‘Where is the king?’

The woman shook the captain in agony. ‘He vanished right in front of my eyes! What happened to him?’

Rogers lowered his head and moaned. The woman kept jolting him, tears and fury in her eyes. ‘Captain!’ 

‘He ceased from existence,’ Rogers said calmly. ‘He and half of the universe.’

She screamed, the sound of a dying animal, and fell on her knees. ‘He’s dead?’

Rogers slowly knelt next to her, his long years finally weighing down on him. ‘General… Okoye… I’m sorry…’ he ended, not able to comfort her. How could he. 

The woman - Okoye - brushed away her tears and leapt to her feet. ‘I have to find the princess,’ she murmured and stumbled forward. The Avengers followed her.

  


~~~

  


Chaos reigned on the streets of the great city. Though the buildings seemed unharmed by the battle, the humans were thrown in turmoil. They screamed and searched desperately for their loved ones. Thor knew they wouldn’t find them.

Under different circumstances Thor would’ve enjoyed the Wakandan capitol, for it was distinguished from every other place on Midgard he has been. He could picture them - Heimdall, Brunnhilde, the Warriors Three and Sif and himself - walking through the streets, laughing. He imagined they lost Volstagg at the first stall that smelled like meat. In the meantime Fandral hit on one of the red-clad warriors and vanished with her. Brunnhilde gave Sif a knowing smirk at that and went searching for the best booze in town. Heimdall and Hogun appeared unimpressed, but secretly admired the strange place and people. Thor explored every corner and soon came to a halt by one of the arms shops. He discovered an item that impressed him, then turned to show it to his friends. In this moment a knife was pressed into his side and Thor laughed. ‘You got me, brother!’ A mocking smile on Loki’s lips welcomed him. ‘One of my easiest exercises.’

It would never happen. They were dead, all of them. Only Thor was left. 

The palace outshone the city by far, although it couldn’t rival the halls of Asgard. Or it could, since these halls were destroyed. 

Their group ended up in the throne room, where many people were gathered. Their attention was focused on the center of the hall, where two older women bent down to a younger one. When the Avengers arrived, the girl cast off the caring hands and all but assaulted Okoye.

‘Where is the king?’ she asked with a shaking voice. Okoye bowed her head and refused to meet her gaze. 

The girl grasped her shoulders. ‘General, where is my brother?’

‘He is gone, Princess.’

‘No,’ she said and stepped back. ‘No. No, not again!’

Her words cracked something deep in Thor’s heart, for he uttered them himself inside his head, over and over.

  


~~~

  


When the whole crowd started weeping for their fallen king, the Avengers didn’t stay to express their condolences. Although they stood in the throne room, nobody was left to lead. Nobody was left to tell what to do now. So they followed Rogers once more, who guided them to a small chamber with a bed and two chairs.

‘I always stayed here when I visited Bucky,’ he said in a low voice. 

Thor didn’t know a Bucky, but he recognized the Captain’s tone. Whoever Bucky was, he was dead. 

Natasha briefly touched Rogers’ shoulder before she settled down on the bed. Bruce sat with her, carefully to not touch. Rogers and Rhodes took the chairs while Thor and Rocket slumped to the floor. 

After a long pause, Natasha was the first to speak. ‘We have to make a plan, reach out to allies. What about Asgard, Thor? Do you think your people know a way to reverse all of this?’

All eyes went to Thor, and he could see the tiny spark of hope in their gazes. Only Bruce looked at the ground and spared Thor from answering and abandoning their hope.

‘Nat, Asgard was destroyed. They can’t support us.’

An uncomfortable silence stretched, until Rhodes asked, ‘What do you mean, when you say destroyed?’

‘Ragnarök,’ Thor answered flatly. ‘Asgard is no more, neither is its library. Even if there was a way to undo Thanos’ work, we will never know.’

‘Where is the Statesman?’ Bruce’s question was gentle, but each word felt like a dagger straight to Thor’s heart. ‘Where are Val and Heimdall, they’re old, maybe they remember -’

‘They are dead. By the time Thanos and his minions left the Statesman, I was the only one still alive. It exploded.’

Thor could see again the violent purple gleam and the bodys in front of him. The pain he tried to suppress during his return to Midgard fought its way up in his chest. 

He observed Bruce thinking. ‘Did - did Loki leave with them?’

The others, who followed their exchange with exasperation in their expressions, were startled by the mention of Thor’s brother. Thor ignored them and concentrated his wild stare at Bruce. He could feel small bursts of energy dancing between his fingers. It took all of his self-control to force them back down.

‘Watch your words,’ he said icily. ‘If you speak like this again, I will strike you with lightning.’

Bruce’s face fell. ‘I am sorry,’ he said quietly. 

Groaning, Thor rubbed his right eye, a habit he formed since Hela stole it, despite Rocket’s replacement. 

‘ _I_ am sorry. I didn't mean threatening you.’ He inhaled sharply and tried to find the strength to continue. ‘Thanos snapped his neck and threw his body at my feet. It was - devastating.’

He couldn’t bear their pity, so he stood abruptly and left. They didn’t follow him. He was grateful. 

As soon as he found his way outside, the sun was hidden behind dark clouds and the rain started to pour down on him. Lightning flashed through the sky, and Thor thought it suitable.

The sun would never shine on him again.

  


~~~

  


‘This on you?’

Thor looked down, where the rabbit unsuccessfully tried to shield his eyes from the heavy raindrops with his paws while pointing at the sky. He shrugged. 

‘I can’t help it. And I don’t want to.’

‘It’s just, these people here seemed more freaked out by the weather than by me. Don’t think they have a lot of tempests like that ‘round here.’

Sighing, Thor tried to calm the storm, but nothing happened. ‘Do they expect me to leave?’

Rocket laughed, hard and bitter. ‘They don’t expect nothin’.’ He hesitated a second before he continued, ‘But I thought that - maybe - you could help me. Have to get to my team.’

‘What do you want me to do?’ Thor asked indifferently. Find the Guardians was a better distraction from his grave thoughts than sitting in the rain and - well, thinking.

‘Get us to Knowhere. Maybe these lazy bastards still stickin’ around...’ They both knew that Thanos had the Reality Stone when he showed up on Midgard. Thor couldn’t imagine an outcome where a confrontation with the Guardians didn’t lead to their end, but who was he to deny the rabbit his wish. He wasted no time and swung his axe. Only moments later they landed near the Collector’s stock. Respectively the remains of it. 

Rocket gulped visibly, then they thoroughly examined the place.

‘The Benatar isn’t here,’ Rocket said finally and decided, ‘That’s good. They made it out. Or they came too late. We have only been here a couple dozens of times, Quill surely forgot the way.’ He chuckled nervously and started to scrabble in the debris. 

‘Can this shiny pick of yours take us there?’ He handed Thor a star map and showed him a solar system he didn’t recognize.

‘Stormbreaker can carry us everywhere,’ Thor replied. ‘What is this place?’

‘’Contraxia. Where your eye’s from. One of the Ravagers, Kraglin, is there, probably. He can contact the Benatar. Don’t know how to find them if...’ Rocket’s voice trailed off, but Thor knew what he thought. If this Kraglin had vanished, the rabbit would rather unlikely ever see his team again. The universe was far too big to walk into one another by accident.

The journey to Contraxia wore on much longer than all the previous times Thor traveled with the Bifrost. Eventually, they landed on a bland, cold planet that reminded Thor of Jotunheim. At least until he turned around and faced decayed fronts with blinking neon lights. It wasn’t hard to guess which business took place in such establishments.

He looked disbelieving at Rocket. ‘Your friend stays at a disgusting place like _this_?’

The rabbit followed his gaze and snorted. ‘What, the Iron Lotus? Never seen a brothel before, Pirate Angel?’

While Thor prefered to not answer the question, Rockets ears jerked. Something captured his sight and he started walking.

‘Ogord!’, he called.

A tall, brawny figure disengaged from a scratch bunch of people nearby.

‘Quill’s furry friend,’ the stranger said with a grumbling voice and eyed Thor. ‘Traded the tree for a new bodyguard?’

Rockets fist clenched around the hilt of his gun, but he maintained an even voice. ‘Lookin’ for Kraglin.’ 

Ogord pointed his finger uninterested at one of the ships parked nearby. ‘Over there. Where’s Quill?’

‘Tryin’ to find out,’ Rocket muttered and ditched him. Quickly they went in the direction Ogord gave them. 

‘Kraglin!’ the rabbit shouted exited. ‘Get your ass over here!’

‘Rocket?’ a pleasantly surprised voice answered. 

The voice belonged to a slim, relatively small man, at least from Thor’s perspective, who joined them and joyfully patted Rocket’s shoulder. ‘Good to see you. Where are Quill and the others? I tried to get through to the Benatar for hours!’ 

He expectantly looked around the rabbit, as if his narrow frame could possibly give his team cover. Rocket’s face fell. ‘We were separated. Came to you ‘cause I thought you could help me to contact them…’

Kraglin’s shoulders sagged. ‘Try yourself?’ 

His ship was large, but an utter mess, one of the engines seemed completely destroyed. Kraglin caught Rocket’s quizzical gaze and said apologetically, ‘Three members of my crew just vanished. Machinists.’ He added hesitantly, ‘You know what happened to them?’

Rocket’s ears twitched slightly. ‘Thanos.’

The name was enough to turn Kraglin’s face white. ‘I see.’

They went to the bridge, and while Rocket leapt at the communication device, Kraglin eyed Thor. ‘And you are?’

Thor put out his hand. ‘Thor Odinson.’

‘Pleasure,’ Kraglin accepted, then he stumbled. ‘Odin like in Allfather?’

‘It appears Asgard still has some reputation,’ Thor said stonily. 

The Ravager opened his mouth, but a cursing Rocket gained his attention. ‘Quill, you fucking idiot! Pick up! Gamora, Drax, Mantis! Come on!’

‘Rabbit,’ Thor said gingerly, ‘what if… the snap…’

‘Not all of them!’ Rocket hissed. ‘Quill! The damn fool must’ve messed with the comm!’

Thor took a deep breath. He knew what to do, but he was afraid of the result. ‘Can you get their location?’

Excited, the rabbit pushed a few buttons. ‘Titan. Oh crap. What they do on Titan?’

‘Let’s find out,’ Thor answered, eager to finish their mission. He had a very bad feeling about what had happened to the Guardians. 

They dismissed a hopelessly confused Kraglin and Thor once more swung Stormbreaker.


	2. Chapter 2

‘...and so, Sleipnir was born. The colt was given to Odin and carries him in battles ever since. His eight legs furnish him with supernal speed, and the unmistakable sound of his gallop petrifies all enemies.’

Loki ended his story, and Thor internally laughed at the awestruck faces around them. The believed every word.

He and his brother sat in the great hall of a small viking village, disguised as messengers from the gods. This day, Loki had premiered with a new story even Thor hadn’t heard, and it was a hilarious one. The chronicler of the village eagerly made notes and asked Loki a detail, before he left his brother alone, happy with the new tale. Loki grabbed a jar of mead and sat down next to Thor.

‘What do you think?’ he asked, grinning. 

Thor bowed his head. ‘I am deeply impressed, although the story was very disturbing. How did you come up with you turning into a mare and seducing the great Svaðilfari? And giving birth to Sleipnir? That is… I would never think of something like that. And they believed you! What gave you the idea?’

‘A sorcerer never tells his secrets,’ Loki answered, clearly satisfied with Thor’s reaction. 

‘Please,’ Thor laughed good-naturedly. ‘I am your brother!’

‘It is possible I could grant you an exemption,’ his brother said patronizingly. ‘I must confess- the story is based on a very upsetting dream of mine. Are you disappointed?’

Thor shook his head. ‘No. Just a bit envious. I never remember my dreams.’

‘That is because you possess not an ounce of fantasy.’ Loki took a big sip from his jar. ‘Ahh. Midgardians know how to make good mead.’

Diffidently, Thor eyed his own jar. ‘I prefer our mead by far.’

Loki inclined his head. ‘Then why have you ordered a refilling? Twice?’

‘The real question is, why only twice?’ Thor said with a wide smile. They both laughed and emptied their jars, before they stood and left the village.

‘It is time to go home,’ Thor said, but Loki hold him back. 

‘Let us stay a little longer. It is such a beautiful night. I want to behold the stars.’

Incredulously, Thor looked up. ‘The Midgardian sky is dark, and its stars shine dimly. I do not know why you like it.’ 

Loki shrugged. ‘Everything on Asgard is so bright and shiny, while Midgard is dark and arcane. It inspires me.’ He took a look at Thor’s expression. ‘Maybe your lack of imagination keeps you from appreciating Midgard’s night sky. What is it? Why are you so eager to go home? Do you miss your precious Warriors Three?’

Thor laughed. ‘Warriors Three? Do you mean Fandral, Hogun and Volstagg? It is a good name, I will keep it.’ 

His brother didn’t respond, and Thor frowned. ‘Are you jealous? Because I spent so much time with them? Be assured, your place cannot be taken by any of them. We only have much in common.’

Uncomfortable, Loki nodded. ‘I never assumed it could. We should call Heimdall.’

This time, Thor hold him back by placing his hand at the back of Loki’s neck. ‘Actually, I would prefer watching the Midgardian night sky with my brother, the master of all storytellers.’

Loki’s face brightened. ‘That is wonderful! You know, I thought about including the Midgardian stars into my tales. I want to show you a constellation that in my opinion would make a extraordinary story. It has three remarkable stars lined up...’

  


~~~

  


At first look, Titan seemed like a wasteland. Thor could sense no living creature. But upon closer examination, something recently had raised the dust. Huge pieces of stone lied all over the place. It took them nearly half an hour to find the Benatar.

The ship was damaged and abandoned. Rocket screamed in frustration. ‘They can’t be gone without the ship. They have to be here!’

He stepped out and shouted, ‘Quill! Gamora! Drax, Mantis! Where are you bunch of idiots?’

‘Rocket?’ a disbelieving voice answered. It belonged to a blue-colored woman who cautiously stepped around some debris. ‘Is that really you?’

Thor had never met the woman, she was clearly no member of the Guardians. But he recognized the silhouette of the man that followed in her track, although he couldn’t wrap his head around his presence.

‘Stark?’

His fellow team member abruptly lifted his head and showed an abnormal pale face. He glanced at Thor, rubbed his eyes, looked again. Then he said, ‘Nebula, I see a viking with a big shiny axe and a racoon with a gun. That a side-effect of that alien medicine of yours?’

Thor slowly moved closer and lowered Stormbreaker. ‘Stark, it’s me.’ At the same time Rocket ran off to meet Nebula.

Stark suddenly realized who stood in front of him. ‘Point Break! You look… different. Are you real?’

‘Aye,’ Thor replied, still in shock. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘Me? Took a ride with a hostile alien ship. What are _you_ doing here?’ 

Before Thor could answer, he heard Rocket scream in agony. ‘No! That’s not possible! You lie!’

Both Avengers turned and saw Rocket punch the legs of the blue woman with his fists. She caught his paws easily and kneeled to be on eye level with him. She said something Thor couldn’t hear.

Rocket started weeping and sagged against her. She seemed uncomfortable, but didn’t push him away. 

‘Was he friends with Quill?’ Stark asked exhausted.

Thor nodded. ‘What happened to the Guardians?’

Stark didn’t ask how Thor knew them. He simply said, ‘Gone. Vanished. Poof! Just like the others.’

‘What others?’ Thor couldn’t look away from his devastated little friend.

‘Strange and Peter. They came with me…’ He cleared his throat, which caught Thor’s attention. 

‘The sorcerer?’

‘How do you- bah, doesn’t matter.’ Tears shone in his eyes. ‘Yeah, the sorcerer.’

Thor explained, ‘I met him briefly. Who’s this?’ He nodded in Nebula’s direction.

‘What, something you don’t know?’ Stark asked sarcastically. ‘Her name’s Nebula, she’s an ally of the Guardians. Kinda. Gamora’s sister, whoever Gamora was.’

‘You didn’t meet her? When I saw the Guardians last, she was with them.’

Stark waved his hand dismissively. ‘Apparently Thanos had killed her before he came here. To gather the Soul Stone.’ 

‘Thanos was here?’ 

‘Yeah. The Time Stone belonged to Strange. We almost beat him. We had the glove almost off… Then Quill learned what happened to Gamora and went completely nuts. Thanos got away. With the stone.’

The things Stark said made no sense to Thor, but the man was completely worn out. He should take him back to Midgard. All of them.

Carefully he approached the rabbit and put a hand on his head which was buried in Nebula’s shoulder. She narrowed her eyes and examined him warily. 

‘I am sorry,’ he said gently. ‘Come on, we should get back to Midgard.’ He corrected himself. ‘Terra.’

‘No,’ Rocket shook his head in denial. ‘I’m staying, the Benatar’s here…’

‘And of no use,’ Nebula snapped. She turned her head to Thor. ‘You have a spare ship? I have to kill a Titan.’

Thor rubbed his right eye. ‘No ship. We came here with the Bifrost. But back on Terra there are many people who’d like to join your quest, I assure you.’

Nebula repeated quietly, ‘Bifrost…’ She looked at him with renewed interest. Thor wondered what the word told her about him.

She pushed Rocket away and stood. ‘We go,’ she commanded steadily, and to Thor’s surprise the rabbit stumbled to his feet. 

He said with a dead voice, ‘Want to grab few things’ and staggered back to the Benatar. The rest of them followed him. 

After he collected several items from two adjacent rooms (his an tree’s, Thor assumed, because one bed had fur on the sheets and the other dried twigs) and set them into a bag, he went to the bridge. He disconnected a small device from the entertainment center and laid it gently on top of his stuff. Thor heard Stark murmur, ‘A Zune. Thought these aliens were more up to date.’

Rocket left the Benatar without looking back and grumbled, ‘What you’re waiting for?’

Thor wasted no time and called the Bifrost.

Wakanda was covered in darkness at their arrival. Thor led their group quickly back to the palace. With Rocket’s help it took Thor merely minutes until he found the room where the rest of the Avengers were, all of them fast asleep. The Captain stirred when the door opened and jumped to his feet.

‘Thor,’ he said relieved. ‘We worried you had-’

Only then he discovered Stark. ‘Tony…’

‘Cap,’ Stark greeted hoarsely. An intriguing mix of emotions shone in his eyes, before he stepped forward and put his arms around Rogers.

  


~~~

  


They spent the rest of the night catching up. At dawn Stark murmured, ‘I want to go home.’

No one objected, so they said goodbye to the princess. Thor wasn’t sure if the girl realized Rogers spoke with her at all, she was entirely apathetic. Then they assembled in front of the palace, ready to use the Bifrost.

Nebula had decided she and Rocket would join them for the moment, therefore all of them landed in front of the Avengers’ compound and went inside. Thor only wanted to sleep (maybe drink one, two barrels of mead before) and forget, but just when he tried trespassing the threshold, Natasha caught his cape and hold him back.

She didn’t lose time with excuses. ‘Do you recall where Clint lives?’

‘Aye.’ He had a sense of foreboding.

‘Please. I can’t reach him.’

Thor couldn’t remember the last time Natasha requested something of him. So, minutes later, he brought Barton and his children back to her.

Without wasting any words on Laura’s absence, she led them inside.

  


~~~

  


The next weeks Thor did only two things: First, he and the other Avengers helped all governments around Midgard with any task that had to be done - they organized transports to isolated places, ended riots before more people got hurt and attempted to calm the scared population. Second, when he was not on a mission, Thor usually tried every single liquor that existed on Midgard. Nothing tasted like the Asgardian mead, but Thor doubted it would be the same even if he magically got to lay hands on a bottle. Since Asgard was gone, nothing he took in was to his liking.

When he came home one night, the whole compound was silent. Thor frowned. He had left only two days before, to take Nebula and Rocket to Contraxia. The two Guardians had been very unhappy about the slow development on Midgard. In fact, there had been no development. Nobody knew anything about how to find Thanos, let alone stop him. 

Nebula was of no use on Midgard, because all her abilities related to killing. Rocket, on the other hand, had spent day and night in one of Stark’s workshops building all kinds of weapons, which wasn’t very helpful at the moment either. Eventually, Nebula had decided she wanted to do something. Stark had suggested recruiting more soldiers, so they started with the Ravagers. 

On their arrival at Contraxia, they had been greeted by the same group of Ravagers as on Thor’s first visit. He had stayed one night, to certify their story and answer the various questions the remaining leaders of the syndicate had. The snap had cost them half of their teams and captains, so they were eager to join the Avenger’s vendetta. For the moment, they readied their fleet to travel through the galaxy and find other allies, while Thor went back to Midgard. The reigning queen of Wakanda and the rabbit had developed a communication device that allowed them to stay in touch through the universe, they wouldn’t miss any news. 

But obviously, Thor had missed _something_. His fellow Avengers were supposed to be at the compound, there had been no scheduled mission when he left.

‘Friday?’ he asked awkwardly. He didn’t really trust the bodiless voice which seemed to control everything around him. It made him feel uncomfortable there was a being against which he couldn’t defend himself. 

‘Good evening, Mr Odinson,’ Friday answered. Although he knew she would speak, he startled slightly.

‘Could you please tell me where the other Avengers are?’ He put much effort in sounding polite. 

‘Mr Stark is with Miss Potts at their house.’ Thor could have figured that out. Stark had kept his eyes glued to her since he came back from space. ‘Dr. Banner, Agent Barton, Colonel Rhodes, Captain Rogers and Agent Romanov received a distress signal from the French government. Another one of their atomic plants became destabilized.’

Thor sighed. The disappearance of many experts all over the world had led to various catastrophes, even if there wasn’t something like radioactivity involved. He would have to kill some time before they returned. 

He sighed again. Normally, he avoided being alone, being unoccupied. It was late, and he could go to sleep, if he wouldn’t avoid sleeping in general as well. About once a week he passed out and nodded a few hours, that lasted to keep him going. 

He sat down on the big sofa in the common room and eyed the large, black screen in front of him warily. Of course he could watch a movie, but every fight recalled images of the lost war, every mention of family and friends reminded him of the people he lost and every romantic encounter brought back Jane’s apologetical face when they broke up. She was alive, he checked that, but she didn’t want to see him, he was certain.

‘I wish Loki was here,’ Thor murmured and flinched the second the words came out of his mouth. All his life, Loki had entertained him when he got bored. If he was stuck on meals with dull ambassadors for hours, had to sit out a storm on a hunting trip or simply threatened to fall asleep during their endless diplomatic lessons, there was always his brother at his side, whispering dry jokes in his ear, telling epic stories or creating simple yet intriguing magic to Thor’s delight. 

So, it came to him naturally to wish for his brother to distract him, even when it was to avoid thinking of his brother. 

‘Do you wish to examine the footage I have on Mr Laufeyson?’ the unsympathetic voice asked. 

‘I told you to replace his last name with Odinson,’ Thor replied angrily, before he even realized, _what_ Friday just said. 

Jerking his head, Thor glanced disbelieving at the speaker. ‘Wait. You have footage on my brother?’ 

Amazed, he witnessed the battle of New York. Seeing Loki murderous and desperate again was hard, but Thor knew that in the end Loki came back to him. So he was grateful for the unexpected opportunity of watching his brother once more. He especially enjoyed the conversation between Loki and Stark, whereas he skipped his own encounter with his brother. 

During the third repetition of Loki and Stark threatening each other, the latter stepped into the room. For a few seconds he watched the clip, until Loki threw him out of the window. He shook himself at that and turned to look at a chuckling Thor.

‘Stop laughing at me,’ he grumbled. 

‘I’m not laughing at you, my friend,’ Thor said grinning. He felt lighter than in days.

‘Then what are you laughing at? Don’t take me for an idiot, Point Break.’

Thor cleared his throat and said, ‘Friday, the army part.’

They both focused on the screen, where Loki said, ‘I have an army’ and Stark retorted, ‘We have a Hulk.’

Friday stopped the video on Thor’s command, and he looked expectantly at Stark, who shrugged. ‘Good reply. And?’

‘He referred to you,’ Thor said with a proud voice. ‘Asgard was dead, Thanos was about to crash my skull, and he quoted _you_ before he unleashed the Hulk. I haven’t realize until now how deeply you impressed him.’ 

‘For sure,’ Stark said slowly, then admitted, ‘Sorry, I don’t get why you are happy about this.’

Thor rubbed his right eye. ‘That’s unsurprisingly, you didn’t know him.’

Stark arched one eyebrow, and he continued, ‘He bothered to remember your words. That alone is an honour, and he even used them against Thanos. I knew you impressed him, but he always denied it. It’s satisfying to prove him wrong.’ 

‘You guys had a strange relationship,’ was Stark’s comment.

‘Probably,’ Thor answered, thinking of all the times Loki tried to stab him, and added inwardly, _that doesn’t lessen the loss_.

  


~~~

  


Midgard’s memory was astonishing. The following days, Thor spent more and more time looking for footage of his brother, and not only him. With the help of Friday, he discovered classified material on the battle of New Mexico and watched Sif and the Warriors Three fighting against the Destroyer. He discovered files of a visit of Sif with S.H.I.E.L.D., which described her as a fierce and deadly warrior, though also a loyal and trustworthy ally, and his heart hurt. He never learned what happened to her, but he was sure she was gone. If she was still out there, she would have found him by now.

His initial enthusiasm reclined. At first, he felt gratitude, now he was only sad. All he ever loved was gone, and what’s left was just a fragment of the long lives his family and friends were meant to live. 

In contrary to the previous weeks, when he mainly avoided sleeping at all, his dreams became his escape, for even the bad dreams weren’t as depressing as reality. 

One day he was wakened by a bright, beautiful sunrise. Thor had started to hate the sun, so he turned around and decided to stay in bed and go back to sleep. Eventually, he woke again, unable to rest any longer. Wistfully he thought of Valhalla. Never before he wished to be there, but recently the thought came creeping into his head. In Valhalla there were endless feasts, battles he actually could win and foremost Loki, Odin and Frigga. Volstagg, Hogun and Fandral. Sif. Heimdall and the last Valkyrie. _All_ Valkyrior and his people. Thor was the last one who was missing. 

He left his beds for a few minutes and gathered all alcohol that was stored in the compound, which was a lot. He wasn’t able to join his loved ones in Valhalla, but he could drink until he passed out.

  


~~~

  


‘Thor.’

‘Lady Natasha?’

It was midday, and he just started today’s second bottle, when she came to his room. 

‘When was the last time you left your bed?’ she asked, face expressionless. 

Thor stared at her, confused. ‘I went to the bathroom an hour ago.’

She sighed. ‘When was the last time you left your bed to do something? Except peeing?’

He tried to hide his embarrassment on talking about such business and shrugged. There was no need to leave the bed.

Natasha narrowed her eyes and bent her head to look him straight in the eye. ‘I’m sick of playing the mother of you guys,’ she hissed. ‘All of you are wallowing in self-pity! We are the Avengers, for God’s sake!’

Irritatingly, he felt sorry for her. ‘Of what use is avenging, when all is lost?’

His statement rendered her speechless. She stayed a few more minutes, obviously struggling for words, before she left without saying anything. Thor’s eyes lingered a moment at her back, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.

  


~~~

  


One evening, he watched the sequence of him and Loki on the roof of the Stark Tower, when he heard a knock. He eyed the door warily. After six repetitions of Loki stabbing him, he didn’t feel like receiving a visit, so he stayed silent.

He ignored the second knock and focused on the screen. He had thought watching Loki trying to kill him would make him miss his brother less, but the effect was opposing. Now that he saw the desperation and the fury in Loki’s eyes, he just longed to give him a squeeze and tell him everything was going to be okay. 

A third knock, his visitor was persistent. Thor yelled, ‘I’m occupied!’

The answer was a snort. ‘I doubt that.’

Had his ears played a trick on him? That voice…

‘Let me in.’

Cautiously he tiptoed to his door and unlocked it. A second later he looked down into a pair of big brown eyes.

‘Jane,’ he said flatly. She didn’t wait for an invitation and walked into the room. 

‘You need to let some air in,’ she said and went to act on her own suggestion while Thor stood still in the doorframe and merely gazed at her, completely overwhelmed. If Thanos would have come to visit him, he’d be less surprised. 

Not before she had opened all windows and turned to look at the screen, Thor recovered and locked the door.

He said hoarsely, ‘Friday.’ The screen went black. 

Jane caught his glance and smiled weakly. ‘Hi.’

Only then he noticed the changes in her features. She had become thinner and paler. Despite her fierce entrance she wrung her hands nervously. ‘Hi.’

She unfolded her hands and waved, pointing in the general direction of the door. ‘Ian is here.’ She took a deep breath. ‘Darcy and Erik-’

‘I know,’ he interrupted, driven by the sudden wish to not hear her say it. ‘I’m sorry.’

Her laughter was joyless. ‘Don’t be. I heard what happened to Asgard…’ Her voice trailed off. ‘Thor, I’m so sorry. I can’t even imagine how you feel.’

They fell silent, just staring at each other. A helpless Thor watched as Jane’s eyes filled with tears. ‘Why didn’t you come to me?’ 

He cleared his throat. ‘You told me we shouldn’t see each other again.’

Now she was crying. ‘But that was before the end of the world.’

He searched his head desperately for something consoling. ‘It was just half an end of the world.’

‘Not of your world,’ she whispered.

Unable to look into those eyes any longer, he withdrew his gaze. ‘You can’t help me,’ he said as gently as possible, just when her arms wrapped around his stomach.

  


~~~

  


Later it occurred to Thor that Jane’s arrival had triggered a chain of events. He didn’t notice it at first, for he and Jane resumed their relationship. Her reassuring presence at his side helped him to get through the days, and only after two weeks he realized he gave up his lifestyle of living in his bed immediately on her return. From the way Natasha smirked when she first saw them together, he couldn’t escape the feeling that it was her doing.

Slowly, they started to plan again. The news from space were encouraging. The Ravagers had sent out their fleet to gather fighters all over the galaxy, and they fell on sympathetic ears everywhere they went. There was even a vague idea how to beat the Mad Titan, provided from a desperate man with a little girl, who stood one day on the doorstep. They called him Ant-Man, but Thor didn’t care why. He didn’t care about how they wanted to defeat Thanos precisely neither, Stark and Bruce could figure that out without his help. All he was interested in was a battle and the opportunity to bury his axe in the Titan’s body. This time, he would aim for the head. 

Still, they had no way of spotting Thanos. That changed when one night Carol Danvers emerged. 

They had been very scared when the Stark satellites noticed the spaceship. None of their allies in outer space had announced a visit, so it had to be hostile. Merely seconds before Stark could order Friday to destroy the vehicle, the AI managed to approach it. 

The voice of a woman came out of the speakers, who identified herself as Carol Danvers.

‘Does anybody know a Carol Danvers?’ Stark spat, his nerves frazzled.

Barton and Natasha exchanged a look. ‘Nick told me of a Carol Danvers once,’ she said slowly.

‘Nick Fury sent me a distress signal,’ the woman interfered irritated. 

‘Um,’ Rogers cleared his voice, ‘I’m afraid that Nick Fury is dead. I don’t know-’

A curse interrupted him. ‘Then it’s high time for me to come home.’

  


~~~

  


From that moment on all started happening very fast, though Thor didn’t make the effort of keeping up. He simply told his team that he was happy with every plan they’d came up with, if it included a possibility for him to sink Stormbreaker in Thanos’ skull. So while the Avengers plotted, he and Jane spent their nights watching the stars, telling each other the stories their people had made up about them.

Thor especially liked the stories from the norse mythology, hilarious tales about him, his family and friends. Some of them he knew, but most were twisted or completely unknown to him. Sometimes he all but laughed, and he knew that Jane looked up more and more stories to humour him. 

When she didn’t work as his entertainer, she resumed with her research. Thor saw how hard it was for her, without Darcy and without Erik, although she never complained. Ian tried to help her and Thor spent hours just keeping them company quietly, thinking.

He didn’t bother to wonder about the future, for there was none. Instead, his thoughts lingered in the past. He went through his memory chronologically and tried to remember things that were long forgotten, until Jane talked to him and he snapped back to reality. 

But one day all the planning had come to an end. The Avengers had assembled in Wakanda, where the biggest fleet of spaceships from countless diverse races landed that the galaxy had ever witnessed. 

And all of them set forth together, to avenge and regain what was taken from them.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you will see, I skipped the action part, because this fic concentrates more on Thor's feelings/thoughts than on action. I hope none of you is disappointed^^

It was late night on the Statesman, when Thor and Loki sat together in their chamber. They were a little drunk, and Thor suddenly remembered something he wanted to question Loki for days now.

‘On Sakaar,’ he began. Loki lifted his head.

‘When you… an illusion of you, actually… came to me. When I prayed for father.’

Loki shifted uncomfortably. Odin was a topic he wasn’t willing to discuss. ‘Aye.’

‘You wanted me to join you and checkmate the Grandmaster. What was your intention then?’

‘I’m afraid I don’t understand. Why do you ask? It’s unimportant now,’ Loki answered, frowning.

‘Aye, but I wondered. It was a very strange offer… did you play me?’ Thor tried to sound uninterested.

‘Of course you assume I played you. But no, for once I thought it was simply a decent chance.’

Thor cocked his head. ‘Hela was on Asgard, suppressing our people, taking what was ours. Why didn’t you mind?’

Loki nipped on a battle of Sakaaran liquor. The alcohol loosened his tongue, Thor realized dimly. ‘It was worth a try. Being free of Asgard could have been our shot at happiness. Pretty childish. And-’ he gave Thor an unreadable look, ‘Hela was your older sister. The throne belonged to her.’

Taken aback, Thor straightened a little. ‘You think it was _wrong_ of me to save Asgard from her? She slaughtered our people!’

‘It doesn’t matter what I think. It’s done.’

‘To me it matters a lot what you think, brother,’ Thor replied angrily. ‘She killed Volstagg, Fandral and Hogun!’

‘Because they resisted her, their rightful queen. I remember the feeling,’ Loki said hatefully. 

Thor had already opened his mouth, but closed it now. Loki glanced at him, furious. ‘What?’

‘I never saw it this way,’ Thor explained lamely. ‘Though I do not regret my doing. Do you?’

Tiredly, Loki waved him off. ‘No. She was clearly unfit to rule. It’s not like I never before overthrew a king.’

That led to another question that had popped up in Thor’s mind lately. ‘After your… death on Svartalfheim. What would you have done if I had claimed the throne?’

‘A foolish question. You would have been crowned. I still could have posed as Odin, even without the stress of ruling, but still all the respect.’

‘Would you have told me who you were?’

‘Of course. Maybe not immediately,’ Loki said, smiling warmly. So warm that Thor knew it was a lie, he just didn’t understand the reasons. Perhaps he would tell him someday.

‘I searched for you body,’ he clarified instead of persisting in talking about Loki pretending to be Odin. It occurred to him recently that Loki must have been hurt by him leaving his corpse alone.

‘I know,’ Loki said softly. ‘I don’t bear a grudge. You had to hurry to stop Malekith.’ Suddenly his voice was filled with hatred. ‘He killed mother.’

This time, Thor believed his brother and nodded fiercely.

  


~~~

  


Two weeks after their departure the Avengers were back in Wakanda. There had been losses, but ultimately they won. They really won.

Thanos was dead, and Thor couldn’t quite comprehend it, although he used Stormbreaker to cut off the Titan’s head after Nebula and Carol Danvers stroke him down. It still seemed unreal. 

The moment he stepped out from the Ravager ship, Jane was by his side and threw her arms around his body. He hugged her back, relieved to see her well. He had missed her dearly, for the last couple of months his world had started to turn around her. She was all he had left. 

After the first greetings all went silent again. Killing Thanos had been important, but only for revenge. What was about to happen now had the purpose to undo his crimes. 

Slowly and solemnly Rogers and Stark handed Carol Danvers the Infinity Gauntlet, for she had been elected to wield it. At first the Avengers tried convincing Thor, inefficiently. He simply told them Danvers was far better suited, and they accepted his decision, although he refused to speak about his reasons.

They had discussed what exactly the person using the gauntlet should do, but Thor knew himself well, and he didn’t trust himself with the temptation of this great and dire power. Although their sole goal was to undo the snap, he was sure he couldn’t withstand the opportunity to bring Asgard back and all its inhabitants. And disturbing the rest of the deads would be an outrageous crime he wasn’t willing to commit.

So Thor stayed away and watched from the distance. They had talked about how the people should come back and decided to make them appear in their homes, because some of them would die if they were situated at the place of their disappearance suddenly. Only their own losses should assemble on the plains of Wakanda, with them.

Carol Danvers was far afield, still Thor could sense her calling the power of the stones. His longing to snatch the gauntlet from Danvers grew until he all but surrendered to it. So he focused on the feeling of the rabbit patting his knee excitedly and Jane squeezing his hand sympathetically. It was all he needed to withstand the temptation.

Merely moments later the place descended into chaos, when all of the sudden confused people reappeared. Closest to Thor emerged Quill, with a puzzled view on his face. Rocket screamed and leapt at him. Thor expected a hug, but the rabbit pushed his everpresent gun in Quill’s stomach. The Earthling fell to his knees, and Rocket stopped only millimeters before their noses touched. He hissed, ‘We’ll never again split up, understand me?’

The Star-Lord just stared at him, before he slowly nodded. The rabbit exhaled and pushed him away. ‘Don’t you dare ever leave me again.’

Quill smiled weakly and pulled Rocket close, finally. 

The view hurt, so Thor looked down on Jane, whose eyes scanned the field frantically. When they found first Darcy and a moment after Selvig, she completely forgot Thor. He didn’t take offence at that, he could understand her perfectly. Yet he went away, straight to the forest. Though he was happy for his friends, his own loss weighed heavier on him than ever before. The sudden sensation of loneliness was too much for him to bear. Nobody would come to reunite with him. 

As he entered the welcoming twilight of the woods, it hit him hard. Up to this point, one part of him expected at least Loki to come back to him. He had accepted the loss of Asgard heavy-hearted, his brother otherwise had cheated on death before. But now, when he slowly knelt down on smooth ground, he realized Loki was gone, truly gone. 

Though he blinked a few tears away and cleared his throat, his voice still sounded hoarse when he spoke. ‘I’m very sorry I didn’t do it earlier. I thought… if I’d do it, it would somehow prevent you from returning.’ 

He swallowed with difficulty. ‘But you will never come back, and I hope you find rest.’

One last time he took in a deep breath, then his lips formed the ancient prayer. ‘Loki, I bid you take your place in the halls of Valhalla, where the brave shall live forever. Nor shall we mourn but rejoice, for those that have died the glorious death.’

When he rose, he felt lighter than in long years. He thought of Loki, and although there was no joy in his heart yet, the overwhelming grief became bearable.

He sighed and turned around undecided. Probably Jane missed him by now, and he should go back to her. Only then he discovered he wasn’t alone. 

Nebula leaned against a mighty tree and glanced at him warily. For a few moments they just stood stock-still and eyed each other. Thor couldn’t remember one single conversation with her talking about something different than their mission, but he felt a certain attachment towards her. She was probably the one who understood his situation best, because she lived it herself.

It was unusual for him to disregard the presence of another person, but he had been deep in thoughts. Ashamed, he wondered how much she had heard. To distract himself, he questioned her, ‘What will you do now? Join the Guardians?’

Her features demonstrated distaste. ‘Never. I have no business with them.’

Uncomfortable silence fell between them, but neither of them took their leave. Finally, she asked casually, ‘So he’s dead?’

‘Who?’ Thor replied confused. 

She huffed. ‘Loki.’ 

‘How do you know?’ 

‘Your prayer,’ she answered slowly. ‘I assumed-’

‘Aye,’ he cut in. ‘He is dead.’

She looked up at the treetops. ‘It’s a shame. _I_ wanted to kill him. He was by far the most unnerving fool I ever met. Including Quill.’ 

Thor stared at her in shock. This was maybe the strangest conversation he had until then. ‘What do you mean by that?’ he choked. 

‘What did he tell you of his time on the Sanctuary?’

‘Nothing.’ He avoided her questioning gaze. He didn’t even know what she meant by Sanctuary.

Ignoring his embarrassment, she continued. ‘We were detained in two adjacent cells. I was there because… I wasn’t too happy about the removal of my brain.’ She touched her head absentmindedly. ‘The Other tortured him by day. At night he left him alone, then he began to tell me stories about you. Said it helped his mind to stay sound. Oh, how I longed to kill him. His constant babbling drove me crazy.’

Thor listened in disbelief. He never knew...

She gazed at Thor, thoughtful. ‘Honestly, I believed he made you up. The shiny savior. A story to held up hope, I despised him for such a weakness. But after a few months… Listening to his stories was better than staring at the ceiling.’

‘What happened then?’ he asked, though he believed he knew the answer.

‘The Other found a way to break him. One day, when they tortured him, he stopped screaming for you and started to listen to Thanos.‘

Her bland words made him feel sick. ‘He thought I had abandoned him and left him there, didn’t he?’

She shrugged. ‘Maybe, I don’t know. Why do you care? He is dead.’

‘Because the last words I spoke to him were, “You are the worst”. I won’t ever have the chance to apologize and tell him what he means to me. I wish I had died with him.’

There was something in her gaze - was it mockery? Sympathy? Loathing? He didn’t know. 

‘In his stories, you were a bright, unbribable warrior, not a whiny moron,’ she snapped. ‘He told me of this promise of yours. Dying together. I laughed so hard, he wouldn’t speak to me for one whole week. Was a great week.’ 

‘What do you want me to understand?’ he asked flatly. This conversation wore him out.

Her laughter sounded cold, almost mechanical. ‘I don’t give a fuck about you or what you understand. All I said was, stop this bullshit and act like the warrior from his stories. Terra could need him.’

‘Ah,’ he answered, and his face brightened involuntarily. ‘I don’t give a fuck about you, too. But the Guardians could really need a well-trained assassin with tech-skills, maybe you could send them an application?’

She stared at him with unveiled hate in her eyes and stormed off, leaving a confused Thor who wasn’t sure if he was comforted or hurt from their talk.

  


~~~

  


On his way back to the palace, he saw the princess, arms linked with an older man he didn’t know. His skin was as dark as the girl’s, and his tread and whole body language identified him as someone of noble birth. 

Thor tried to avoid them, but the princess already spotted him. ‘Thor!’ she called, and he went to meet them. 

Shuri beamed up at him. ‘Thor, I would like to introduce you to my brother, King T’Challa of Wakanda. T’Challa, meet King Thor of Asgard.’ 

A pair of warm, gentle eyes met Thor’s and they shook hands, before Thor said, ‘It’s a pleasure, Princess. But please drop the “King”. Without a people left to reign, there is no need for a king.’

Both of them looked at him in sympathy, and neither tried to condole with him. He was grateful.

T’Challa said in a low, pleasant voice, ‘So you are one of the people I have to thank for my life. I am in your debt.’

Shuri pulled him closer towards her and poked him playfully. ‘Stop these grave, meaningful exchanges. You came back from the dead twice, we have to celebrate! Now!’

The king smiled at her affectionately and winked at Thor apologetically before she dragged him away. 

Thor looked still after them when he could no longer spot them, unable to not think about the second time his own brother survived his death, and how little time they had until his last fall. There was never enough time to celebrate their reunion. A few days ago, Thor would have envied Shuri and T’Challa for the chance of renewing their relationship and just being around their sibling. But they would only have another fifty years together, if they were lucky.

Unlike them, he and Loki had spent one and a half millennium in each other’s company, and for the first time in his life Thor was simply grateful for this staggering amount of time. He would trade a millennium of his lifetime against one more day with his brother without hesitation, though. But that wasn’t possible, so he stopped thinking about it.

He only realized much later that in his encounter with the Wakandan royals he had reached a crossroad. Envy could have embittered him, but he decided to finally feel blessed for all the good things that happened in the past. Although it was just a small step, his healing had finally begun.

  


~~~

  


After the ultimate victory, daily routine found its way into Thor’s life. He moved in with Jane, who had a little flat in London, and resumed his duty as Protector of the Nine Realms. Due to Stormbreaker he was able to travel wherever he wanted in mere seconds, and the new communication device developed by Shuri and Rocket helped him to stay in contact with all the Realms.

‘I don’t know why I even bother,’ he told Quill one day, when he was with the Guardians aboard the repaired Benatar. ‘The Nine Realms are more peaceful than since the beginning of our annal-writing. My role is rather one of an exotic visitor, not that of a ruler or guard!’

‘Good news this applies not to the rest of the galaxy,’ Quill replied drily. ‘Our jobs would be on the line.’

Since he lost Gamora, the childish, cheerful Quill Thor knew was gone and gave place to a more adult, serious and cynic man. Though Thor couldn’t quite stand the old Quill, he all but missed him now. 

The Guardians had been on a mission in Alfheim and asked for Thor’s help to resolve diplomatic problems. He wasn't really needed, because despite Quill’s statement, the galaxy was not the same dangerous place from before the snap. Most of its inhabitants, criminals and ordinary citizens alike, were still traumatized after the loss of half the population. It was a phenomenon Thor first observed on Midgard, with the Avengers and other humans: Everybody stuck together with his loved ones. The economy recovered only slowly, for the majority of the people had no intention to return to their jobs. They felt like there were more significant things in their lives than a career. 

In his youth, Thor would have loathed a world full of peace and separation anxiety. Now he felt reassured by the simplicity of life.

He turned his head away from Quill in the pilot seat to look at the rest of the team. Drax, Mantis, Rocket and Groot sat on the floor and played a bizarre card game from Drax’s homeworld. The tree, who was fully grown and had control over the growth of his twigs and even small leaves, cheated very skilfully by growing cards in and out of his limbs. None of the other players noticed. 

‘I am Groot,’ he said satisfied, put down his cards and took the Units from their middle. 

Drax scowled, and Mantis looked at Groot insecure. Thor assumed she perceived something unusual in his feelings, but couldn’t classify it. 

Rocket threw his cards across the room. ‘That’s not possible!’

‘I am Groot.’

‘No revenge! You already have all my money!’ The rabbit- no, Jane had told him it was a raccoon- crossed his arms and looked straight out of the window.

At this moment the door opened and Nebula stepped in. She took in the sight of the scattered cards, the sulking raccoon and the smirking tree, and snorted. ‘You’re a pathetic player, Rocket.’

‘Beat him, then you can lecture me,’ Rocket hissed and stomped out. Groot followed him, pleased counting his win.

Thor faced Nebula and smiled. ‘Where have you been? I missed you on the mission.’

She raised an eyebrow. ‘Not your business,’ she said, but without the old edge in her voice. ‘You’re staying for a while?’

Thor checked the time. ‘No, I have to hurry to be back on Earth for dinner, Jane invited Bruce and Natasha. You folks wanna come?’ 

Quill sighed, and Nebula stared at him incredulously. ‘You remember the last time we dropped in unannounced? The committee from the Nobel Prize Jury?’ Quill asked. 

Thor snickered. ‘She won the prize anyway.’

Nebula waved him off. ‘Get your ass home.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm actually not 100% satisfied with how this chapter turned out. The whole Thor-Nebula conversation was especially hard, I wrote it twice. Neither was nearly perfect, but this one came closer, so...


	4. Chapter 4

Thor was deeply contented. He and his friends had just defeated a group of outlaws from Alfheim who had rampaged on Vanaheim. Although the outlaws were inferior in their fighting skills, they possessed a great strategic knowledge. They had managed to lead his group in a trap and triggered a landslide. It would have knocked them off, but Loki used his magic and shielded them from the falling rocks. 

The Warriors Three and Sif were occupied with imprisoning the survivors, so he searched for his brother. He spotted him sitting nearby with a cloudy face. 

Approaching Loki, he said, ‘Why the long face, brother? We won, and we wouldn’t if it wasn’t for you!’

Loki lifted his head to look at him. ‘Exactly!’ he spat. ‘But I wouldn’t have to rescue you from the stones, if you followed my advice and avoided the ravine!’

Thor plopped down next to him and patted his knee. ‘Don’t be mad at me. It was a glorious victory! And much more fun this way. You saw their surprised faces when we escaped unharmed!’

‘Unharmed,’ Loki muttered. 

‘Aye, thanks to you. Your little tricks are quite useful.’ Thor had intended to cheer his brother, but Loki’s face darkened more, if possible. He shrugged it off and said, ‘Come on, the others are practically done. Let’s go home and celebrate!’

He jumped to his feet and reached his hand out to Loki, but his brother neglected it and stood by himself. He moved slowly and cautiously. 

‘Are you hurt?’ Thor asked, suddenly concerned. He couldn’t see a wound on his brother, though. 

‘No,’ Loki said and tried to hide his trembling hands.

‘Then why you behave like an old man?’ Thor teased.

‘Because I needed every ounce of my strength to keep the boulders from squishing you,’ Loki answered angrily. 

‘Oh.’ The smile on Thor’s face died. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t think-’

‘Right,’ Loki interfered. ‘Because you _never_ think. Why use your head?’

‘Brother, I have you to think for both of us,’ Thor retorted. 

Loki spat on the ground. ‘As if. Of course I do the thinking, but you would never follow my council. So it’s of no use. You constantly forget other people depend on your decisions. Try thinking once, maybe you like it!’

With these words he walked away with a limp. Thor gazed after him, but dismissed Loki’s harsh criticism quickly. They won, that alone was essential.

  


~~~

  


Thor had just enough time to lean Stormbreaker against the wall and kiss Jane when the doorbell rang. 

It was a very enjoyable meal. Besides himself and Jane, Bruce was the only person on Earth who had actually been to Asgard or meet the Asgardian people. Whenever the three of them came together, Thor wallowed in memories. Many years passed by since the snap, and now the funny stories Bruce told from their time on the Statesman made Thor smile. The hurt was still there, but muffled and bearable. Bittersweet.

This evening, Nat was unusual silent. She smiled a lot, though she relinquished her wry remarks on her husbands stories. Thor didn’t notice her odd behaviour, for Jane told the story of how she met his parents for the millionth time, and he was occupied with laughing. 

Only after she had finished, Jane asked gently, ‘Natasha, is everything alright? You are so quiet.’

Natasha cleared her throat and looked at Bruce, who beamed back at her and nodded. ‘Actually, we wanted to tell you something.’

She took Bruce’s hand and said, ‘We’re going to be parents.’

Jane choked on her sip of wine. While Thor patted her back, she uttered, ‘Wow! That’s brilliant, I thought-’ She glimpsed at Thor. ‘He said that you two… you know… Well, congratulations!’

Quickly she stood and hugged the both of them. Thor smiled at his friends and congratulated, too, but eyed her carefully. Children were a sore spot with Jane.

‘That’s right, we can’t have children,’ Natasha said when Jane took her seat again. ‘We adopt.’

‘Oh,’ Jane said and smiled. ‘That’s great!’ 

What remained of the evening was spent with details about the adoption.

After Thor had escorted the guests out, he stopped outside the living room and breathed deeply. The moment he stepped in, an uncomfortable conversation would await him.

He wasn’t mistaken. Jane, who cleared the table, smiled at him, but it was forced. ‘So, Hulk and Black Widow are going to be parents. Remarkable, isn’t it?’

Thor sighed. ‘Jane, please. Not again.’

She chuckled nervously and sat down on the couch. ‘I never thought about adoption. I get it, you know? Why you don’t want to have kids with me. All the immortal-mortal mixup stuff.’

‘My longevity is nothing I want to burden an innocent child with,’ he said as gently as possible, though it was hard to keep his calm. They had had this discussion over and over. 

She huffed. ‘Yeah, I know. Because I am getting older and you don’t. It has to be a heavy burden to look at me, as old and fragile as I am.’

‘Jane… I didn’t say-’ 

‘Please, Thor,’ she interrupted. ‘I know I don’t get more attractive. And our poor child, who would have to see its mother wither…’

‘Jane, you had too much wine. Can we just-?’

‘No, I want to have this conversation right now,’ she insisted and watched him intensely. 

He finally sat down next to her and took her hand in his. ‘I don’t mind you getting older. What bothers me is the fact that I have to live on for millennia after your death.’

Tears shone in her eyes. ‘I know, I really do. It’s just hard to capture…’

She gripped his hand so tight her knuckles became white. He raised their hands to his mouth and kissed hers. ‘I know, love.’

For a few minutes the just sat there and Jane cried softly. Then she found her voice again. ‘But… adoption? I never thought about it, tho’ it’s so obvious. An adopted child won’t inherit your power.’

Her hopeful gaze broke his heart a little. ‘Jane, _I_ reflected about it thoroughly since Stark and Lady Pepper adopted their children. And-’ He couldn’t say it, but she knew him.

‘And you don’t want to,’ she finished his sentence, the tears in her eyes replaced by anger. ‘Why?’

He leaned back. ‘Because I’m selfish. I don’t want to witness my child die. And then my grandchildren. And their grandchildren, and so on for eternity.’

Jane wanted to cut in, and he stopped her with a gentle pressure on her hand. ‘I saw what Loki’s first death did to father and mother. No parent should have to bury their child, I’m very sorry. I love you, and want to comply with your every wish. But I can’t do this, not even for you.’

She nodded and choked, ‘So, I will never be a mom.’ Instantly, she started weeping again.

Pulling her close, he knew exactly what he had to tell her. He deferred saying this to her for a long time, because he didn’t want to lose her. But it was unfair to chain her to him if it meant she had to give up her dreams.

‘Love,’ he said softly. ‘You’re 40, that’s not too old to be a mother. And if I won’t fulfill your desire, then maybe… you should raise a family with someone else.’ 

Abruptly she lifted her head from his shoulder. ‘Are you... breaking up?’

‘No, no!’ he clarified. ‘If you’ll have me, I stay by your side until your final breath. But- I think you should come to terms with yourself. If you choose to be with me, you will never have children.’

‘I don’t want to choose between you and children,’ she said. ‘It’s unfair that, after everything, we can’t just have our “And they lived happily ever after”.’

‘I know,’ he replied tonelessly. ‘You have a lot to think about. I’ll leave you to it.’

Concern shone in her eyes. ‘You aren’t going to wander around all night, are you? Even you have to sleep sometimes.’

He soothed her, grabbed Stormbreaker and a cloak and left. Of course he wasn’t planning on staying in a hotel, and though he could visit the Avengers’ Compound, he didn’t aim for company. It took him a few months to get used to it, but he had finally caught the time difference between London and New York. They would all be awake.

  


~~~

  


It took Thor only a few seconds to arrive at his destination. The Norwegian cliff lay in utter darkness, no star was seen. It didn’t bother Thor. He sat down on the rocks where his father died and let his thoughts wander. 

He inevitably came to this place when he felt alone. On one hand, because Odin had decided to stay there when he freed himself of Loki’s spell. On the other hand, he felt closer to his homeland. The Asgardians always liked the country, and he had been there in his youth a couple of times before his father had decreed to leave Midgard in care of itself. 

But the main reason was his encounter with Odin after his death. For a time, he had believed it to be purely his imagination, subconsciously craving for counsel to fight Hela. Until he remembered Heimdall’s last words, when he had sent the Hulk back to Earth. He had asked for strength from the Allfathers. Odin’s powers were beyond imagination, for sure he could muster enough energy to reach out to his son even from Valhalla. 

After he came to the conclusion that the vision was real and he had spoken to his father indeed, he wondered if Loki could do the same thing. Their discussion following the destruction of the Statesman, before he woke on the Benatar, didn’t feel like an ordinary dream, more like the vision Wanda Maximoff had induced on their first meeting. And it had happened on the same cliff. 

Thor knew not if Odin gave Loki the power, or if his little brother’s magic was strong enough to do it on his own, but after he mulled over it for years, he reckoned their last conversation real as well. 

And now, even if he didn’t admit it to himself, he hoped it would happen again. They did it once, why don’t repeat? As a matter of fact he was in the right place, all they had to do was come to him. 

In spite of his longing, the night remained dark and silent. In the grey of dawn, he gave up hope. ‘Neither me or Asgard is in deadly danger, I know,’ he whispered. ‘But still… it’d be very nice to see you.’ 

There was no answer.

  


~~~

  


Although he had expected Jane’s decision, he felt a little dead inside when he moved all his belongings to New York. 

She had cried the whole time and apologized over and over again, and in the end he had to comfort her instead of being comforted himself.

He didn’t tell the other Avengers why they had split up. He only made sure it had been mutual, because he didn’t want them to treat her differently when they worked together. And after the first, very hard days, he got better. It was the right decision. She deserved a chance to be happy.

Nevertheless, it felt like a punch from the Hulk in the face when he met her the next time, barely two years after their break-up. She had dropped by unexpected, what took the chance to avoid her from him. Her belly was swollen, and a ring of engagement graced her hand. 

He excused himself after a few polite sentences and fled to Bruce and Natasha’s. 

‘Wow, that’s fast,’ was Bruce’s reaction. They sat on the porch, but Thor had no eyes for the beautiful sunset. Natasha was inside with the kids, and he was grateful. It was hard enough to talk about his feelings with Bruce, who had become his closest friend over the years and was the only person who knew the reason for their break-up. ‘I thought it would take her longer to get over you.’

‘Ah,’ Thor said and buried the head in his hands. ‘That could be my doing.’ 

‘What?’ Bruce asked confused. ‘How could you possibly-’

‘Mantis,’ was Thor’s muffled answer. ‘I may have requested her to lessen Jane’s feelings for me.’

‘Wow! With Jane’s consent?’

‘Of course not!’ Thor snapped and raised his head. ‘She did it when Jane was asleep.’

‘Tough move, buddy.’ Bruce patted his shoulder sympathetically. 

‘Aye. Now I somehow regret it. But that’s selfish, I should be glad for her.’

‘Thor, you may be a hero, but after all you’re just human, too.’ Bruce widened his eyes. ‘I mean… not human, ah-’

Thor grinned. ‘Don’t offend me,’ he mocked. ‘I get it, though. I have feelings, don’t I?’

Bruce smiled. ‘Yeah, it seems like. Jealousy exists even among ancient gods from mythology, huh?’

They both laughed, and Thor immediately felt better. That’s why he liked Bruce. 

After a few moments he got serious again. ‘I’m just… unsure where my place is in this world,’ he admitted. ‘All my life I prepared to be king. Even after I had turned down the throne, I always expected to take it in the end, you know? I thought I’d wait a few decades, one or two centuries. Prepare myself a little longer. And when there wasn’t a people to lead anymore, I concentrated on Jane. Since she is no longer a part of my life, I only lived for the day. But I assume it’s time to move on.’

The sun had vanished behind the hills, and he watched the rich colours of the sky.

‘You have something in mind, don’t you?’ Bruce asked gently. 

‘Aye. Earth doesn’t need me, and the other Realms arrange their matters on their own. However, I broadened my horizon in the previous couple of years beyond the limits of Yggdrasil. Maybe I can become a protector of the whole galaxy instead of only nine worlds.’

‘You wanna join the Guardians?’

‘That’s the conclusion I came to.’

Bruce sighed heavily. ‘It’s hard to keep pace with your change from smashing to thinking.’

Thor smiled sadly. ‘I was advised to try thinking, even if I dodged using my brain for many years.’

‘I’m proud of you, buddy. Although it was nice to be on the same planet, I admit.’ 

‘It’s not farewell.’

‘I’d say! If you forget to show up regularly, the Hulk will haul you back. After all we have experience with different planets by now, too.’

  


~~~

  


Of course Stark insisted on throwing a farewell party, but on Bruce’s prompting only the hard core of the Avengers was invited, including the Guardians. Thor guessed it was a excuse for Stark to catch up with Nebula. Being the sole survivors from the fight on Titan formed a strange but very strong friendship between the two of them. They spent the whole evening in a quiet place, talking. 

Pepper simply waved off the teasing of the Avengers and demanded they left them alone.   
Quill behaved very uneasy during the night, sitting in a corner by himself. Thor knew he hated being on Earth and joined him.

‘What’s going through your mind, my friend?’

‘Nothin’,’ Quill played down the issue. However, Thor didn’t only learn thinking, but patience as well.

It paid out. After a few minutes, Quill began to speak. _He’s simply unable to be quiet_ , Thor thought, and listened.

‘This planet’s driving me crazy. It always allures me to do stupid things. Like asking Stark’s weird voice for my family.’

Thor raised an eyebrow, but stayed quiet. 

‘My grandad’s still alive. My uncle started a family. They think me dead, and I should really go there and explain to them that I’m alive and well and didn’t intend to hurt them, but I don’t want to. That makes me feel guilty as fuck. You pleased?’

‘Friday,’ Thor said slowly, ‘How are the Quills? Are they happy?’

‘Evaluating happiness is none of my errands.’

‘Friday!’ Thor repeated reproachfully. He lost his uneasiness with the AI a long time ago. 

‘I’m calculating.’ The AI sounded pissed, like Loki when Thor convinced him after hours to join him and the Warriors Three on a trip he didn’t want do take. ‘Based on a study from Oxford University, the happiness-level of Mr Quill’s relatives averages 76%, Mr Odinson.’

‘Thank you so much, Friday,’ Thor answered drily and faced Quill. ‘So. Do 76% please you?’ 

‘It’s 14% more than Mr Quill’s own happiness-level,’ Friday intervened.

Quill groaned. ‘Alright! What do you want to tell me with these figures?’ 

‘I assume they wouldn’t object if you visited them, but they’re fine without you,’ Thor stated. ‘You don’t have to feel guilty.’ 

‘Thanks. I think.’ Quill rubbed his forehead. ‘Still I’d like to go off this cursed planet as soon as possible.’

‘Then let’s go.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is rather boring, but important for the characterisation of Thor in this fic, so thank you for still reading it ^^


	5. Chapter 5

Breakfast at the Statesman was the only good meal of the day, so Thor went to the hall although he was unbelievably tired after a restless night. He sat down next to his brother, who had left their shared quarters before he woke, and muttered, ‘Morning.’

Loki simply ignored him, reading some reports. Bruce nodded, and Brunnhilde waved lazily with her left hand. They usually didn’t talk much during breakfast.

On Thor’s plate already lay two boiled eggs, a courtesy of his brother, who knew it was essential for Thor’s morning routine and that the Valkyrie would have eaten all of them by the time of Thor’s late arrival. Carefully he cracked the eggs and separated the yolk from the albumen. He loved the albumen, while Loki preferred the yolk, so he put the yellow bulk on Loki’s plate and went for the white one. When he was finished, he noticed Brunnhilde studying him with a smirk. 

He didn’t care. He was not in the mood to discuss his eating habits. His mind was still occupied with his nightmare which involved a destroyed Asgard.

While he searched for the orange juice with his eyes, he wondered if Odin would have found a better solution to the whole Hela-problem than burning his realm down. He must, for he had locked her up before.

Loki had the orange juice, and after he had poured a glass for himself wordlessly reached it to his brother. Thor now eyed the plate with the fruits. He took a few strawberries and a piece of melon, offering the last grapes to Loki. Had his father taken Hela by surprise? Odin had stated Thor was stronger than him, that couldn’t be true. In the margins of his perception, he recorded the Valkyrie chuckling and whispering something in Bruce’s ear, who looked surprised, but he didn’t care what amused her. 

Now he went for the toast. He took one slice for himself, one for Loki, who had reached for the butter and put it down between their plates. While he buttered his bread, he thought about Gungnir. Maybe the might of the ancient weapon would have put Hela in her place. But he _had_ Gungnir in their encounter, that wasn’t the difference-

‘What?’ he snapped, because by now, not only Brunnhilde, but Bruce too vibrated from suppressed laughter. 

‘You two are such an old couple,’ Bruce declared, and the Valkyrie roared with laughter. Even Loki lifted his head from his documents. 

The brothers shared an irritated look. ‘What do you mean?’ Thor asked. 

‘They don’t even have to ask the other for their stuff,’ Brunnhilde gasped. ‘That’s adorable! So much for being enemies!’

Thor had no idea what she was talking about, but Loki huffed. ‘They think we resemble an old couple because how we hand each other food. Ridiculous.’ 

‘I don’t understand,’ Thor said slowly. ‘The toast was on my side of the table, the butter on his, why do you believe it funny if we…’

His voice trailed off, for the Valkyrie fell from her chair, helplessly laughing.

Bruce excused himself, he “didn’t want to hulk out because of the cuteness”.

Loki stood, grabbed his reports and went away in dignity, not deigning to look at them. 

Alone with a still cackling Valkyrie on the floor, Thor sighed deeply. How was he supposed to be a wise king, when his most trusted advisors behaved like toddlers?

  


~~~

  


Living with the Guardians was strange, but never boring. For the first time in years, Thor felt like his life wasn’t purposeless. The galaxy and their inhabitants never ceased to amaze and surprise him, and it felt as if his own happiness-level rose significantly, although he couldn’t let Friday run a test. 

On the Benatar he sometimes forgot his destination hadn’t always been travelling through space and cashing bounties. Until he was outrun by the past.

The day had started like every other day with a lazy breakfast. Quill scrolled through the database, searching for a both interesting and lucrative job, when he suddenly stopped chewing. 

‘Guys, there’s a job for the Collector!’

‘Lemme guess - collect somethin’?’ Rocket rolled his eyes. ‘Don’t like the guy, but he has money.’

‘Not something, someone! He’s looking for his brother.’ 

Drax grimaced. ‘How can somebody lose his brother.’

‘The ad only says he didn’t see him for - wow, two million years!’

Mantis’s eyes started to fill with tears. ‘The poor man!’

‘I am Groot!’

‘You’re taking the words out of my mouth. No way we find a guy who’s been lost for two million years,’ Rocket stated. 

With a wave Quill put the job description on the big screen and Rocket whistled, but maintained his opinion. ‘Not even for a fortune like that.’ 

Thor, who hadn’t been interested in the topic until now, looked up to learn which amount of units the Collector offered. When he saw the picture of the target, his blood ran cold.

Mantis yelped in pain and fell off her chair. Drax was by her side in an instant and helped her up. ‘Are you alright?’

‘Yes, sure,’ she said shaking. ‘The amount of hate surprised me.’

Quill frowned. ‘Who of you hates the Collector so much Mantis gets overwhelmed? Nebula?’

‘Don’t know him,’ she answered without raising her head. For a former assassin, she had developed a remarkable calm and ignorant attitude.

‘I’m sorry, Mantis,’ Thor said, still in shock. ‘I… I know this man.’

‘I am Groot.’

‘He is right. You already told us you gave him the Reality Stone. Why the sudden hard feelings?’ Quill questioned him.

‘Not the Collector. His brother. He calls himself the Grandmaster.’

‘Hey, if you know him, you can find him?’ Rocket asked excited. 

‘I am _Groot_!’ 

‘I don’t care why he has to pick a bone with the guy! Did you see the amount of money?’

Only now Nebula looked at Thor. ‘I do care. I think there’s a good story.’

He glanced back at her, angry. ‘You’re an asshole.’

One of the corners of her mouth twitched. ‘We’re all. Story? Loki never mentioned him, so it must be a more recent quarrel.’ 

Six pairs of eyes gazed at him. Thor knew they wouldn’t leave him alone. He told them the story as fast as possible. 

When he finished, Rocket rubbed his paws. ‘So you know where he is. I smell easy money!’

‘I’m not going to help him reconnect with his long-lost brother,’ Thor said through gritted teeth and left the room.

  


~~~

  


They performed a few other jobs, and though Rocket always looked at Thor accusingly when the got their small payment, he didn’t say a word. Neither did the others.

Nevertheless, Thor’s wish for revenge increased. Over Hela and Thanos, he never wasted a second thought about the Grandmaster.

Thor began sitting in his room alone and brooding. One evening, a few weeks after the incident, Rocket came to his chamber.

‘Whatcha doin’?’ 

Blinking, Thor looked at him in surprise. ‘Nothing. Thinking.’

‘About that master guy of yours?’

He grunted. ‘He’s not my master.’

Rocket raised his arms placating. ‘Still mad, huh?’

‘Aye.’ Thor wondered what the racoon was getting at.

‘It’s just… I talked to Groot. If you wanna beat him up, we’re in.’ He sighed. ‘Without payment. He kinda deserves it’.

A warm feeling welled up in Thor’s heart. ‘That’s sweet of you. But I don’t know… Maybe it’s time to let bygones be bygones.’

Rocket huffed. ‘Your call.’

  


~~~

  


Many years elapsed, and Thor started experiencing mortality. Not his own, he was still in his youth. But when they were on missions, he noticed his team members getting slower and weaker. After a fight, they needed more and more time to recover.

One day, Thor received word of Stark’s demise. The Guardians were very quiet when he informed them. Mantis started weeping, and Nebula stood abruptly and left. 

They all attended the burial. Thor left Nebula’s side not for a second, before she freed herself of him almost violently and vanished at the funeral feast. 

Before he could decide if it was better for her to be alone, Bruce took her deserted place. He sat down moaning. ‘How you’re holding up?’

Thor shrugged. ‘I’m alright. Just worried about Nebula. Stark was one of the very few people she _really_ cared about.’ 

Bruce turned his head to look for her. ‘She will be okay. She has you guys.’

Something in his tone made Thor uncomfortable. ‘How are you holding up, my friend?’ 

Bruce squinnied. ‘I don’t know. It’s so surreal, Iron Man dying from a heart-attack. I feel unbelievable old.’

While his friend fished something out of his pocket, Thor took his appearance in. Bruce’s hair was fully white, his skin wrinkled and with a grey touch. He moved slowly, unburdening his right leg. Only his eyes shone as vivid as they always did.

‘Look,’ Bruce pulled him out of his reflection. ‘That’s a photograph from the beginning. Right after New York.’

They both examined the picture. It startled Thor how young his friends appeared then, and how old they were now. Even the captain was getting on in years plainly. 

‘Look at us, and you haven’t changed at all,’ Bruce said. ‘Just the haircut.’

He cocked his head. ‘I never asked, but why exactly didn’t you grow your hair? You complained for days on the Statesman after you had lost it.’

Thor touched his head absentmindedly. ‘On Asgard, short hair was a sign of absolute, devastating grief. I thought it suitable, so I’m still cutting it.’

His friend frowned. ‘It must be hard. Even after all these years.’

‘I guess you wouldn’t understand,’ Thor laughed bitterly. ‘For you, the destruction of Asgard happened almost a lifetime ago. For me, it feels like yesterday.’

Bruce looked down on the photo in his hand and nodded slowly. ‘I could never be fully able to relate to how you experience life, but I understand.’ His eyes filled with tears. ‘I’m sorry we have to die and leave you alone.’

Thor patted his shoulder clumsily. He felt awful for making his friend sadder than he already had been. 

Cautiously, Bruce glanced at him. ‘You don’t think about… ending your life, do you?’

‘No, no,’ Thor reassured him quickly. ‘There were times when I wished- but there are no shortcuts to Valhalla.’

For a brief moment, Bruce’s gaze caught Natasha’s. She was with Pepper, taking care of her and shielding her from the mourners. ‘Do you really believe in an afterlife?’

‘Aye,’ Thor answered gently. ‘I do. My father appeared to me once after his death, as did Loki. Their magic is strong enough to reach me, even in death.’

Bruce smiled sympathetically. ‘Maybe you nothing but wished for them to be with you.’

‘Maybe,’ Thor admitted, and they allowed the topic to rest.

  


~~~

  


Stark’s death was the opening for a time of great mourning in Thor’s life. One by one, his friends died. 

Eventually, the Guardians had to retire. Thor wished to be near all his friends and spent as much time with them as possible, so he did. It wasn’t hard to convince Quill to settle down on Earth, close to the Avengers. 

After two decades, Quill, Rogers and Barnes were the only ones still alive from his original teams who remained on Earth. Nebula was out there in space, somewhere, but didn’t bother to take a communication device with her or drop by occasionally. Thor didn’t count on seeing her ever again. 

Thor lived with Quill in a simple, isolated shack in the woods and took care of him. One night they sat outside and watched the night sky. Thor thought about Jane. He hadn’t heard from her in years, although he checked regularly on her health. Quill just pointed at a falling star and wallowed in memories of meteor showers he had to dodge, when Thor’s phone rang.

It was Darcy. ‘Hey, big guy,’ she said, and Thor smiled involuntarily. She hadn’t changed much through the years.

‘Hello, Lady Darcy,’ he replied, because he knew how she liked him calling her that. ‘How are you?’

‘I’m fine, thanks. It’s… it’s Jane. She probably hasn’t much longer, and I thought you should- know this.’

‘Where is she?’ Thor asked calmly. He knew this day would come.

‘In hospital. The Royal London Hospital.’

‘Thank you,’ he said and hung up. ‘Jane’s dying.’

‘Oh. Do you want me to come?’

‘Don’t be ridiculous. I’d have to carry you.’

After he had made sure Quill would survive a few hours of his absence, he grabbed Stormbreaker. The axe hadn’t seen blood in years, but her ability to send him everywhere had never been more welcome.

  


~~~

  


On his way to the hospital, he collected Darcy, who showed him the way. When they finally arrived at Jane’s bedside, a big group of people was gathered. Jane’s three children were already full-grown adults, and they were all there with their partners and Jane’s two grandchildren. Of course Jane’s husband was present as well. 

Thor stopped abruptly at the threshold. He didn’t meet any of them, and had wasted no time on the thought that Jane probably wouldn’t be alone.

Darcy saved him. ‘Hi guys,’ she said cheerfully. ‘That’s Thor, the God of Thunder. I assume you’ve heard about him.’

She poked him with her elbow, and he recovered immediately. ‘It’s an honour to get to know you,’ he declared and beamed at them, who stared back uncomfortably.

Jane eyed him surprised. ‘Hi, Thor.’

Only now he took her in. There was only one word for her looks - horrible. 

The man who sat beside her and held her hand stood and met Thor. ‘The pleasure is all mine. I’m Eric.’

Now all of them shook his hand. A few minutes passed with introductions, before Jane asked them to leave her and Thor alone for a few moments. 

Thor stood awkwardly at the foot at the bed. He had rushed to come here, now he didn’t know what to say. So he simply uttered, ‘Hi, Jane.’

Her smile was as wide as ever when she repeated, ‘Hi, Thor.’

She waved him to sit at her side, and he followed. ‘I’m glad you came. It’s been too long.’

‘Aye,’ he agreed. ‘Are you- in pain?’

She put him off. ‘I’m on a huge number of painkillers. I wouldn’t notice if the Aether was back in my system.’

They both laughed at her joke, and somehow all tension left the room. They talked about old times, teasing each other. 

But Jane became weary and tired fast. Thor leaned down and kissed her brow, allowing his lips to linger for a moment. ‘Goodbye, Jane,’ he said softly. 

Tears filled her eyes. ‘Goodbye, Thor,’ she whispered, and Thor had to muster all his strength to break away. 

At the door he stopped and turned around to ask the only question that still mattered. ‘Were you happy?’

She nodded with a quiet sob. ‘I was. I _am_.’ 

They looked at each other, and Thor could see love in her eyes. It wasn’t the passion that shone there decades before, but deep, sincere affection and also a little insecurity. ‘Are you happy, Thor?’

He nodded while he pressed the door handle. ‘I am,’ he said and almost meant it. 

Without saying goodbye to Darcy he left the hospital. Two days later she gave him word of Jane’s demise, and only then he allowed his tears to fall.

  


~~~

  


‘Gamora?’

Thor sighed. ‘It’s me, my friend. Thor.’

‘Oh,’ Quill said disappointed. ‘Right. Gamora’s not here.’

‘Aye. She is not here.’ 

Thor stewarded Quill his breakfast. His times of confusion grew more frequent, and Thor grew more worried.

Quill slowly ate his slices of apple. After the third he said, ‘I missed apples. Hard to believe something so stupidly simple was hard to get in space.’

Feeling reassured of Quill’s acknowledgement of his whereabouts, Thor agreed. ‘Aye. There are only a few planets with apple trees.’

Nodding, Quill took a fourth piece and chewed thoroughly. ‘Thor, I wanna visit my family.’

Thor looked up from his newspaper. ‘Excuse me?’

‘My family!’ Quill sounded excited. ‘My grandfather and my uncle. I want to get to know my cousins!’

With his heart in his boots, Thor said slowly, ‘My friend, they were mortals. You outlived them.’

Quill rubbed his brow. ‘How could I forget. I’m half Celestial, ain’t I?’ He didn’t wait for Thor’s confirmation. ‘It’s a shame. I wished them to meet Gamora.’

Thor smiled sadly. ‘Aye, it’s a shame.’

  


~~~

  


It was only Thor and Rogers who were present at Barnes’ funeral, for Quill wasn’t able to leave the house anymore. In all the years, Thor never learned what to say on such an occasion, so he went with, ‘I’m very sorry for your loss.’

Rogers nodded. ‘Thank you.’

They sat on the porch of Thor’s residence and drank beer.

‘I’m glad I had the time with him,’ Rogers said. ‘When I woke up after seventy years, all people I knew and cared about were gone. But he found his way back to me.’ He paused. ‘He wasn’t my brother in blood, but in all the ways that mattered.’

‘I know,’ Thor said. ‘It’s not of less worth, though.’

‘Right. I forgot you shared the experience.’ He blinked. ‘It’s just- I lost him twice already, and I know we had more time together than most people do. Than all people do. And I could prepare for the day, but- it hurts more this time.’

‘Third time's the charm,’ Thor replied sarcastically. ‘I guess when your brother comes back from death, once, twice, you kinda believe him truly immortal. That’s wrong.’

Rogers stirred. ‘You share this experience, too, don’t you? Does it hurt less, someday?’

Thor smiled. Loki wasn’t a topic they discussed regularly. Though New York happened more than a century ago, it was a sore spot to this day. ’Never. It’s just different. But there’s not a day I don’t think about Loki. And a weird part of me sees him still hiding in the shadows.’

‘That’s not weird,’ Steve decided. ‘It’s-’

‘Love,’ Thor completed and drained his beer. 

After a few minutes in silence, Thor became aware of Rogers studying him. ‘What’s on your mind, my friend?’

His counterpart shook his head. ‘I just wondered what you would do after… you know.’

‘I’m planning on reactivating the Benatar,’ Thor revealed. 

‘And do what?’

Thor hesitated, unsure how to voice his intentions. ‘I’m old, and I’m getting older than the majority of the beings in the universe. Even now, most humans who spot me on the street don’t know who I am, although they know parts of my story. I thought about… becoming a story. A legend parents tell their children at night, without believing in its truth. But when they need me, I’ll be there.’

Rogers chuckled softly. ‘Like King Arthur, only for real?’

Remembering reading the myth, Thor laughed. ‘Aye. Something like that. I already let enough people down, that won’t happen again. I’m intending on building a legacy for Asgard, so it will never be forgotten. I suppose I _am_ Asgard, anyway.’

‘Thor, you never let anybody down.’

‘I did. If it wasn’t for my behaviour, my family would still be strong and united. Asgard would be there, and Thanos wouldn’t been able to act on his plan with the might of the Realm Eternal still present. _Nothing_ of it would ever happened.’

‘You don’t know that,’ Rogers insisted sharply. ‘You’re _not_ almighty, despite your beliefs. You have to see this.’

‘That’s nice of you,’ Thor said. He didn’t want to fight with Rogers over something that was irreversible, on the day they had buried his best friend. He didn’t change his mind, though.

The captain snorted. ‘It’s not nice, it’s the truth. You don’t have to redeem yourself. If you do this, and I’m sure you’ll succeed, it’s not to do penance. It’s simply who you are.’

Still, Thor wasn’t convinced, but he nodded, nevertheless. 

‘Promise me something,’ Rogers went on. ‘When I’m dead… and Quill, don’t stay on you own. Find friends, maybe another team. You’re stronger when you’re not alone.’

Thor sighed. ‘I promise. But that applies to you as well. We have a spare bedroom, what do you think?’

Rogers cocked his head. ‘I thought you’d never ask.’

  


~~~

  


Thor buried Rogers next to Barnes. One year later Quill died, and he laid him to rest next to his mother. There was already a gravestone for him, for he had been declared dead over a century ago. More paperwork than he’d ever seen before later, he was allowed to change the date of death. But it was worth it.

‘Thank you, Susan,’ he said to the woman next to him when they stood in front of the grave. ‘It meant a lot to him.’

Susan Parker looked up at him. She was Peter Parker’s grandchild, and also Stark’s great-grandchild, for his granddaughter had married Parker’s son. As a lawyer she had known exactly how to deal with the bureaucrats, in contrary to Thor. 

‘It was an honour,’ she responded earnestly. ‘So… that’s goodbye? You’re leaving?’

He smiled at her. On Earth, she was a full-grown, successful woman with an outstanding career. For him, she was still a little girl. He remembered seeing her for the first time, an infant on the arm of a proudly beaming Parker. ‘Aye,’ he said softly. ‘You know that.’

She tried to hide her tears. ‘I do. But you come back, don’t you? To visit me? And tell me of your adventures?’

‘I swear to you,’ he answered, and held her when she flung her arms around his waist.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the finale!  
> It's long, probably too long... but I couldn't bring myself to cut it. It's my favourite part of the story, so enjoy!

‘Let me summarize,’ Bruce said. ‘Loki, your not-really-brother, who tried to kill you hundreds of times, who attempted to conquer my planet, who betrayed you literally yesterday, is now in your inner circle?’

‘Aye,’ Thor said, not looking up, busy with the documents in front of him.

‘He wanted to sell you to a crazy maniac! Yesterday!’

‘Aye. Predictable.’

Bruce blinked at him. ‘My impressions of the fight are a little confused, for the Hulk was in charge, but did you hit your head? Had Hela hurt your brain when she took your eye?’

‘I have my head on straight, Banner,’ Thor replied tiredly.

‘Clearly not! I understand, he is your brother, but you are narrow-witted when it’s about him! He plays you, don’t you see? He is evil!’

‘Enough!’ Thor barked at him, finally gazing at his friend. 

‘Listen to me, you’re making a mistake…’

‘No, you listen! I know you consider me dense, but you spent a few hours with him! I lived with him for fifteen centuries. Are you really thinking me so deluded?’

‘He caught you in the hop when you were banished to Earth,’ Bruce said indignantly. 

Thor rolled his eye. ‘Aye. There was a part of him I never knew, but let me assure you- the Thor from before my banishment would demand your head for insulting a part of his family like this. I changed, and learned a lot of things about myself and about Loki, too. I see him now for what he is. I challenged him on Sakaar to choose, and he did. He chose to come to my aid.’

‘Only because he fell from grace,’ Bruce answered, less intense. 

‘No. He could go anywhere in the universe.’

Bruce sighed. ‘Look, I’m just worried about you. Your judgement is clouded because you wish for him to act like your brother again.’

‘I do,’ Thor agreed. ‘As I said, I’m not fooling myself. I know his mind can change. I’m taking what I get, and if he chooses to leave one day, I have to deal with it. But for now, he has no intentions to work against me.’ 

He sounded more certain than he felt, but Bruce needed his confidence now. As did Loki. 

‘I don’t get it,’ Bruce said, worn out. ‘How do you live like that? Always on the watch.’

Thor smiled. ‘I assume you have no siblings?’

His friend tensed up. ‘I’m an only child.’

Nodding, Thor returned to the papers. ‘Clearly. I don’t think I can explain it to you properly. It’s a bond that can’t be destroyed.’

‘I hope you’re right,’ Bruce said numbly.

‘I am.’

  


~~~

  


Flying with the Benatar through space was a new experience for Thor. For the first time in his long life he was completely alone, and didn’t like it much. Therefore fulfilling the promise he made to Rogers was in his best interest.

Once more, the Ravagers proved her worth. The members of them who had fought with the Avengers against Thanos were long gone, yet Thor never completely lost touch with their successors. 

The Ravagers became his eyes and ears in the whole galaxy. They always kept him current and informed him about riots, civil wars and individuals that intended to become the new big bad. When he wasn’t away on a mission, he often stayed with them for company and even found a few trustworthy companions.

It wasn’t the same. Slowly, but steadily Thor became careless. He refrained from using Stormbreaker or his lightning. When he showed up with electricity crawling over his skin, most enemies laid down their weapons before the battle would even start, so he preferred going incognito and took a simple sword instead, for fighting became his only distraction from his loneliness. 

One day, the Ravagers passed a distress signal from Xandar through to him. In contrary to most other planets, the Xandarian population had not been decimated by the snap, so the lost half of it didn’t come back. In his conquest to gather the orb, Thanos had also destroyed a main part of the resources, cities and infrastructure. The planet was still a battlefield, and although complex contracts were made to distribute supplies, then and now civil wars flared up.

This time the quarrel was about a spring. A southern tribe had been equipped with giant robots from an outer source and had marched north to take a foreign water reservoir. 

It was a task to his taste. He didn’t want to kill more of the desperate Xandarians than necessary, but he could vent his frustration on lifeless robots. It would be fun. 

Or it would’ve been fun, if he hadn’t underestimated his enemy. As soon as he showed up on battlefield, the robots left the northern Xandarians alone and focused on him. He managed to take down a few robots before one hit him with a blast of energy and he lost consciousness.

When he came to himself, Thor was in a small cell. 

‘Funny,’ he said aloud. ‘It was a trap.’

He didn’t expect someone to answer him, nevertheless a bodiless, brassy voice responded. ‘Indeed. You fell in the hands of C’Aril the Terrible. Abandon all hope.’

Thor laughed. ‘I’m dying to get to know him!’ 

‘Be assured, you will die.’

Thor leaned back and made himself comfortable, just when he noticed a small device on his neck. An Obedience Disk.

‘Oh, come on!’ he screamed. ‘Is this Sakaaran? That’s unfair!’

The answer consisted in an energy surge that made his vision blur. When he was finally able to see something, he wasn’t where he anticipated to be. It was neither an evil command center, nor his cell. 

It was a sunny Norwegian cliff. 

He jumped to his feet faster than ever before and turned around eagerly. 

‘What do you think you do?’ Loki yelled at him. ‘Have you lost your mind compl- urgh-’

Thor pressed his brother to his chest and buried his head in the long black curls, starting to cry and scream out of joy.

Loki shoved him away. ‘Don’t give me that bullshit! Have you gone nuts?’

He clutched to Thor’s shoulders, still pushing him, for his brother wanted to hug him again. ‘Don’t you have to say something?’

Thor gave up his struggle and blurted out, ‘Brother, I’m so sorry, you are _not_ the worst, I am, I never wanted to say that to you, I got caught up in the moment, I love you, and I’m really sorry, can we-’

‘Alright, stop!’ Loki cried and stepped back, letting Thor loose. ‘I changed my mind, please don’t speak.’

Smiling through his tears like an idiot, Thor said, ‘I missed you so much.’

His brother seemed uncomfortable. ‘That’s not important right now. The point is, _what are you doing?_ ’ 

‘I’m trying to apologize,’ Thor explained confused. ‘Am I too subtle?’

‘Subtle?’ Loki asked disbelieving. ‘You couldn’t be subtle if your life was on the line. I speak of your pathetic performance on Xandar.’

‘Oh.’ Thor felt his smile waver. ‘I… I just…?’

‘Yes?’ Loki narrowed his eyes.

‘Brother,’ Thor uttered pleadingly with a small voice. ‘I want to go home.’

Loki’s face darkened. ‘Thor…’ He stumbled backwards, for Thor tried grasp him again. ‘Brother, it’s not your time yet.’

‘Why?’ Thor spat out angrily. ‘Everyone I ever loved is long gone. Why do I have to be left behind?’

‘Because your mission isn’t over. This galaxy still needs the God of Thunder.’

‘But I’m not just the God of Thunder. I’m a son, a king, a friend, a brother... ‘

‘And an Avenger, a Guardian, a Protector,’ Loki said quietly. 

Exhausted, Thor slumped to the ground. ‘I’m not sure I still am. I’m broken, don’t you think?’

Kneeling, Loki finally reached out to Thor and brought their brows together. ‘You can’t be broken, you’re stronger than this whole fucking universe. But you’re not invulnerable, so please fight back. You’re not done.’

Thor grinned. ‘You gained strong language since we last spoke. Were you taught in Valhalla?’

Loki gave him his most mischievous smile. ‘You have all eternity to find out. What are a few more millenia fighting for your beliefs?’

‘It’s hard to do it alone,’ Thor said, dropping his gaze.

Throwing his head back, Loki grinned. ‘You will never be alone.’

  


~~~

  


Thor awoke in his cell. Slowly he stood and shook himself. 

‘Fine,’ he said to the empty room. ‘You win. I won’t give up.’

He examined the structure of the door. On first sight, it seemed unbreakable, but when he looked closer, he found weaknesses. _They think their Obedience Disk is enough to hold me_ , he thought and grinned. _Let’s see if they’re right_.

They weren’t. Calling his lightning for the first time in months, experiencing the energy dance through his veins, made him feel alive once more. He laughed boisterously and electrocuted the door. It flew back to the next wall, and Thor stepped out.

A few guards assembled in front of him. They all quivered, and one of them was busy with a remote. When he finally found the right button to activate the device on Thor’s neck, Thor already had neutralized the other guards. He beat the last guard, just when his neck was energized. 

With the power that already flooded his body, the electric shock didn’t knock him out, but was very painful. He roared in agony and fumbled around with the remote. 

‘They were more intuitive last time,’ he pressed through his teeth. 

‘Try first the black button than the red one.’

Thor toppled over backwards. Before he could recover from the shock, a blue hand wrenched the remote from his grip and shut down the disk. 

‘You’re welcome,’ Nebula hissed and stretched out her hand. She helped him to his feet, never losing the bored, annoyed look on her face.

‘Where do you come from?’ Thor asked, still blindsided. Rather he would have anticipated for Loki and the Valkyrior to come to his help. ‘I thought… I thought you dead.’

‘I’m not,’ she snapped impatiently and waved him to follow her. Cautiously they sneaked out of the building. Nebula led him into some impressive hills, before she finally decided they were safe for the moment and turned around. 

Thor beamed at her. ‘I’m glad to see you.’

She inclined her head, before her lips twisted into something smile-like. ‘It’s been too long.’

He couldn’t stop himself and hugged her. She let him, briefly, before she weaselled out. ‘Let’s focus.’

‘Great,’ Thor said jolly. ‘On what?’

Nebula looked at him, taken aback. ‘What’s going on with you? I’m here because the Ravagers reported you becoming depressed and neglectful, but you seem… good. Annoyingly good.’

‘You kept an eye on me? That’s sweet.’

‘Why are you so cheerful? That makes me sick.’

‘Because I’m very happy about the last minutes! I found you again, and Loki told me to get my head out of my ass, so-’

‘Wait. Loki did what?’

‘He came to me and told me I was acting pathetic, so I stopped.’

Slowly Nebula stepped back. ‘Thor, he’s dead. What did they do to you?’

Thor’s smile turned bittersweet. ‘They did nothing. I know he’s dead. He reappeared, nevertheless. He can do that.’ 

He could see she thought him crazy, so he changed the topic. ‘What do you know about these people? The whole civil war seemed to be a trap to get ahold of me.’

Nebula nodded. ‘I don’t know much, but I think this C’Aril has some plans you would probably interfere with. You’ve gained quite a reputation.’

Thor clapped his hands. ‘Fine. Let’s find out about these plans.’

  


~~~

  


They used the front entrance. In the lobby an army of guards obstructed them.

Thor didn’t hesitate. He lifted his arms and said, ‘Hi! I’d like talking to your leader.’

Nebula rolled her eyes at him, but the guards exchanged uneasy looks, before one took heart and said, ‘This way.’

While they walked, more and more guards came in flocks and threatened them with their weapons. Thor didn’t bother and talked to Nebula about the architectural characteristics of the hostile base. Her gaze clearly meant she thought him insane, and he enjoyed it more than he could have imagined. 

Eventually, they reached a narrow, long hall where many people were gathered. At the end of the room stood a small crowd of people who turned around to face them.

‘Who wants to talk to C’Aril the Terrible?’

Thor rubbed his brow, for the voice came from a small, thin girl who narrowed her eyes at him. 

‘ _You_ are C’Aril?’

‘I am.’ Her voice was harsh, and she kept a straight face. Thor was almost impressed.

‘I wanted to ask why you incite a war, just to get me out of the way.’

She laughed joylessly. ‘My allies reported to me about a mercenary who intervened with our business. They never mentioned what a fool you are. Coming back here, unarmed.’

Nebula glanced around in a defensive posture. Thor only grinned. ‘They told you I was only a mercenary? How foolish of them.’

He unleashed his power, and lightning crawled over his skin. All attendees jumped backwards, only C’Aril didn’t move away, although she seemed worried.

‘Let me introduce myself, and also my companion. I am Thor Odinson, the God of Thunder, King of Asgard, Protector of all Realms. This is Nebula, daughter of the Titan, Guardian of the Galaxy. I propose you lay down your weapons and surrender.’

For a moment there was only uncomfortable silence, then Nebula hissed, ‘I’m not his daughter!’

Thor tilted his head. ‘I apologize. It sounds better. What about Galaxy-Class Killer?’

The guards seemed unsure what to do, and their leader was no help. Suddenly, a small door at the side of the hall opened. 

‘Why the noise? I wanted to have a nap…’ The voice trailed off in a deep yawn. 

Abruptly, Thor’s lightning died down in shock. ‘You! You are behind this?’

The Grandmaster rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. ‘Do we know each oth- oh, it’s you!’

Under Thor’s disbelieving gaze, he strolled over to C’Aril and put his arm around her shoulders excitedly. ‘It’s the Lord of Thunder! What a piece of luck!’ 

Unbridled fury overcame Thor. The lightning reappeared, and he leapt forward, ignoring the Obedience Disk one of the guards hit him with. He seized the Grandmaster by the collar and lifted him up. ‘I should electrocute you here and now!’

C’Aril activated the disk, but in his rage Thor didn’t notice the pain. 

‘Hey, why the hard feelings,’ the Grandmaster blurted out. ‘We were a great team last time! I’m bringing the Contest of Champions back into use, are you interested in being my new champion-’

Thor threw him at the next wall and called for Stormbreaker. To his surprise, the axe arrived merely seconds later. 

Nebula just shrugged. ‘I took the Benatar here. I’m never unprepared’

Then the battle emerged.

  


~~~

  


Thor and Nebula had no difficulties to overpower the guards. With the help of the Ravagers, they organized the imprisonment of C’Aril and their men. The Grandmaster was delivered by Thor personally.

‘I have no idea why they called her “the Terrible”,’ he said to Nebula when they were back on board of the Benatar. 

She shrugged. ‘Me neither. Stage name?’

He laughed. ‘Probably. By the way, you were pretty impressing out there.’

‘I spent the last years updating my body,’ she said casually. ‘I may be old, but my limbs work like in my youth.’

‘It was nice to fight side by side once again,’ Thor admitted. 

‘I agree. How do you feel, now that you had your revenge?’

‘It didn’t feel truly like revenge. I haven’t thought about him much lately… But it’s really enjoyable to know him locked up.’

They made themselves comfortable and shared dinner. After a few minutes in silence, Thor asked, ‘Are you planning on sticking around?’

Nebula smiled. ‘Sure. You need someone to keep you out of trouble.’

  


~~~

  


‘I really don’t wanna do that,’ Nebula said.

‘You’re already here, so don’t be grumpy,’ Thor answered and rang the doorbell.

Almost instantly the door opened and showed Susan’s delighted face. ‘You really came!’

‘I would never let you down.’ Thor beamed at her, and she flung her arms around his neck. 

Only then she discovered her second visitor. ‘Nebula?’ she asked wide eyed. 

Nebula shifted from one foot to the other uncomfortably. ‘How do you know me?’

Susan shoved her into the house unceremoniously, to a wall full of photographs. ‘There!’ She pointed at one picture. ‘Mom said it was one of her granddad’s favourites.’

Thor curiously leaned in. He saw an aged Tony Stark, arm around Nebula, grinning at the camera. The Nebula in the photo seemed less enthusiastic, but smiled slightly. 

The real Nebula swallowed. ‘That was his seventieth birthday.’ The three of them stared at the picture, when someone behind them cleared his throat. 

It was a young, excited man, who simply introduced himself with, ‘Hi! I’m John.’

Susan moved closer to him. ‘Meet my fiancé.’

They had an excellent dinner together. When they were finished and sat on the porch with a bottle of wine, John said, ‘May I ask you something, Thor?’

The addressed nodded, ‘Of course.’

‘I haven’t told you about my profession. I’m a historian, and I always wanted to write a book about your people. We know something about Asgard from the myths, but not much about the real realm. So when Susan mentioned she knew you, I wondered… would you give me an interview? It’s important to not forget about history, and the history of our world is linked to yours.’

Thor glared at him incredulously. When he thought about it, he was the only person who remembered the Asgardian culture and history, and he didn’t want it to vanish with his death. He looked into John’s anxious face and smiled. ‘I’d feel honoured.’

  


~~~

  


Originally they had planned to stay on Midgard only for a few days, but they extended their visit in favour of John getting detailed information on Asgard. To Thor’s surprise and delight, Nebula didn’t object. She spent much time with Susan who was very interested in her life and her relationship with Stark, while Thor told John everything about Asgard he remembered.

One day Susan was occupied at work, so Nebula joined him and John. At first Thor enjoyed her company, until John said, ‘Your stories differ strongly from mythology. Are at least a few of the myths true? Like-,’ he smiled, ‘you and Loki disguise as women to regain Mjølnir?’

Suddenly Thor felt awkward. ‘No,’ he said slowly. ‘Actually, I never lost Mjølnir. Its magic was too powerful.’

He noticed Nebula’s malicious joy too late. ‘He’s lying, John. It’s true, it wasn’t really about losing Mjølnir. Nevertheless, the story happened.’

Thor wanted to curl up and die, but John was interested. ‘How do you know?’

She must have learned this mischievous smile from his brother, Thor thought, when Nebula answered. ‘Loki loved that story. He must’ve told me about a hundred times.’ 

John beamed. ‘Please, share the insight.’

Nebula needed no second invitation, so Thor leaned back and prepared for the shame. ‘Let me think - ah, I recall the beginning. Thor and Loki were on Vanaheim, on a hunting trip I believe. One night they stopped by at an inn and Thor drank to much. Way to much. In the inn were a couple of soldiers from Alfheim, who praised the angelic beauty of the Vanir princess, Freya. Loki’s words, not mine. Thor heard them and started bragging about him and Freya being close friends. One of the soldiers revealed himself as a prince of Alfheim, who had intended to marry Freya for a long time, but didn’t get the opportunity to even meet her. He challenged Thor to make her spend one evening with him. And the drunk oaf accepted.’

She patted Thor’s shoulder. ‘Loki’s words. However, they betted. Thor’s stake was Mjølnir. Loki said he tried to change his mind, but he insisted…’

‘Hey, that’s a lie! He was at least as drunk as I was! He just sat there and smiled silly,’ Thor rebelled, ignoring her smirk.

‘Whatever. The other guy betted… I don’t remember. Doesn’t matter. The next day, Thor was hungover and a little bit desperate. He did his best to convince Freya, promised her even a ride on Sleipnir, but she was no fan. Eventually, she got him kicked out. So… Loki suggested _Thor_ dressing up as Freya and go in her stead. In lack of other options he followed the advice, and Loki accompanied him, disguised as Freya’s chaperone. Thor wore a veil, which they explained with… ah, because of her getting recognized otherwise.’

John hang on Nebula’s every word, grinning foolishly. Thor rolled his eyes, but didn’t interrupt her flow of speech. He never heard her saying so many words in such a short amount of time.

‘Loki said it was a very lovely evening. They had dinner, went for a ride and danced at a ball. Thor’s behaviour wasn’t very ladylike, especially while dinner. He ate three gigots, and the elves grew suspicious, but Loki-’

‘Gigots are my favourites!’ Thor grumbled. 

‘-but Loki calmed them. He told them Freya observed a strict diet at the palace. I can’t believe they actually bought that. I mean, Thor’s not built like a woman at all.’ She gazed quizzically at him.

Thor felt his cheeks reddening. ‘He used a spell to change my appearance. Actually… I looked the whole evening exactly like Freya.’

His comrades shouted with laughter. ‘He never mentioned that,’ Nebula said, still giggling. ‘Eventually they had weathered the evening, and the elves escorted them back to the palace. Then the best thing happened. The prince lifted Thor’s veil and kissed him, quicker than anybody could react. Thor snapped and punched him… hey, if you looked like Freya, then why did he recognize you?’

Head in his hands, Thor answered, ‘Because I punched him with Mjølnir. And Loki was laughing so hard he lost control over the spell and I appeared as myself…’

Once again he got a laugh. After several minutes John cooled down and asked, ‘So why did you not lose your hammer? You lost the bet, didn’t you?’

‘The elven prince was even more embarrassed than Thor,’ Nebula replied. ‘So they agreed to forget about the bet and the evening and everything and never saw each other again.’ 

‘Tremendous,’ John gasped. ‘I have to write this down!’ 

He eyed Thor pleadingly, who shrugged. ‘I was very young, only three centuries old. Those involved all are gone, even Mjølnir. You harm nobody.’

‘Not even your pride?’ Nebula teased. Thor ignored her.

John scratched his chin. ‘They story is magnificent, but differs from the myth in many parts. Why that?’

A warm smile emerged on Thor’s face. ‘Loki said the story was too good to be concealed, but not heroic enough, so he made a few things up.’ Suddenly he remembered the night when Loki first told the story, many centuries ago. At first he had been mad at him, but Loki had mastered the art of story-telling at such a high level that he eventually had joined the laughter. It had been a great night.

Looking down at his notes, John said to Nebula, ‘So Loki shared a bunch of stories with you. Wanna tell me more?’

Nebula yawned and stretched her arms. ‘Later, maybe. When Thor’s not around. Most of Loki’s stories are about how wonderful, heroic, adorable and incomparable his brother is. I have no intention to massage his ego.’

Her words gave Thor mixed feelings. On one hand, he felt unbelievably guilty for not saving Loki from the abyss, from torture, from Thanos, while his little brother still believed in him. But on the other hand, it was reassuring to know he did, despite all of Thor’s mistakes and insufficiencies. He tried to focus on the bright side. In the end, Loki knew he loved him. That had to be enough.

  


~~~

  


They stayed nearly a year on Earth, enough time to attend Susan and John’s wedding. But after a while, Thor sensed that he didn’t belong to this world, not anymore, though Earth amazed him with its constant change. Not many worlds he knew evolved at such a rapid, relentless speed. Nebula shared his feeling, so they decided to leave.

At saying farewell, Susan gave Nebula the photograph of her and Stark. ‘It means more to you than to me,’ she said. Nebula played cool, but Thor knew her well enough to see her appreciation. He thought Susan did, too. 

John smiled at him when they shook hands. ‘It was an honour meeting you. I have enough material to write libraries about Asgard.’ 

‘I’m looking forward to reading them,’ Thor asserted.

Nebula snorted, ‘As if.’ John laughed.

They took their seats in the cockpit. ‘Ready to return to the galaxy?’ Thor asked.

‘Actually, there is something I’d like to do first,’ Nebula murmured, shifting uncomfortably in her seat.

  


~~~

  


‘I had no idea his second name was Jason,’ Nebula said. ‘This place is so… unspectacular.’ 

They stood in front of Quill’s gravesite. ‘They didn’t know what he would become when they invested it,’ Thor replied. He had been the one who let them engrave “Star-Lord” at the headstone. 

Nebula bent forward to lay down a bunch of white roses on the scruffy grave. ‘I didn’t understand what Gamora saw in this moron,’ she said. ‘But I’ve never seen her as happy as with him.’

‘You know what she saw in him,’ Thor answered gingerly. ‘You liked him, admit it.’

‘Never,’ she said and stood. ‘Why didn’t he get a proper Ravager funeral?’

‘He wished to be buried next to his mother.’ Thor pointed at the adjacent gravestone. ‘Do you wish to see the final resting places of the others?’ 

She hesitated, before she nodded.

They shared a tomb, deep in the woods, near the shack where they lived at last. The headstone was overgrown, only the heading was showing - “The Guardians of the Galaxy”.

They cleaned the site thoroughly. When they were finished, Nebula straightened and said, ‘It seems strange to me, to bury the corpses of the deceased in the ground… but when I die-’

Her voice trailed off. Thor understood anyway. He took her hand, and she squeezed it.

  


~~~

  


Millennia had passed since then, and eventually even Thor had become old. He had settled down on the planet X, only inhabited by Flora Colossi, who were mesmerized by his ability to speak their language and therefore allowed him to stay. It was a quiet, peaceful life, surrounded by nature and beings who urged him to tell of the most famous one of their kind over and over again. Thor happily obliged, making Groot the center of all his adventures, showing Stormbreaker’s handle for them to admire.

His fighting days had long passed, but from time to time, when it was absolutely necessary, he took Stormbreaker and slipped in his role as the Protector of the Galaxy. It had become an ancient name, a legend feared through the whole galaxy. Time after time a new generation wrote the God of Thunder off as a myth, and all had to recognize their mistake. 

Obviously one of the sceptics was Rauhak, an aspiring descendant of the gone down Kree Empire. On Asgard his people were considered as brutal savages, and though Thor had become cautious with prejudgment, indeed most of his encounters to Krees had been unpleasant. So he was on red alert when one day Rauhak’s fleet approached the atmosphere of X. Due to the language barrier the Flora Colossi usually didn’t maintain contact with foreigners. But X was a largely unexploited planet, and under its surface lay huge amounts of treasures which were of no use to its inhabitants. 

Thor had a queasy feeling about the reason for Rauhak’s visit when he asked for a meeting, and he was proven right. 

‘I didn’t come the long way to bargain, dotard,’ Rauhak said contentedly. ‘I came to take what I desire.’

Sighing, Thor nodded. ‘So be it.’

The fight was long, brutal and demanded many casualties on both sides. The Flora Colossi were natural warriors, but they lived in peace and despised fighting, while Rauhak’s army consisted of well-trained, merciless soldiers. 

Although Thor wielded Stormbreaker with relentless strength, he felt his long years weighing down on him with every stroke. His reflexes had become slower with time, and he had to swallow more blows than before. When he finally met Rauhak at the battlefield, the hostile army nearly defeated, he bled from several wounds, but stood as straight as ever. 

‘Go and never come back,’ Thor said tiredly. ‘You doubted my existence and might, and your soldiers paid the price. Your plan failed.’

‘Yes, it did,’ Rauhak agreed and drew his sword. ‘For now. I come back after I killed you.’

He lunged out and hit his enemy, faster than Thor could react. He stared disbelieving at the wound on his stomach, he heard Rauhak’s laughter distantly - and severed Rauhak’s head from his shoulders in one stroke. 

Stormbreaker fell from his grip when he eyed his injury curiously. Around him the clashes ceased, and a few Flora Colossi came to look after him. They carried him to his house and lay him down, unsure what to do with a patient whose body didn’t grow new flesh.

Thor ignored them, busy with the injury. His vision blurred in and out of focus, and although once he would have recovered from his wound, he felt his strength fading. _Finally_ , he thought, _it’s my time._

He gazed at the wall, where his most treasured belongings hung. A photo of the original Avengers, taken after New York. The picture of Stark and Nebula, which he had inherited after her death. Peter Parker, grinning next to an annoyed Bucky Barnes. Him and the Guardians, with Groot embracing all of them at once. A screenshot from Shield’s surveillance of the Warriors Three. A smiling Sif, next to Coulson and a few other humans. Him, Heimdall, Brunnhilde, the Hulk and Loki on the bridge of the Statesman, the reigning counsel of Asgard. Jane amidst him, Selvig, Darcy and Ian, on the day she won the Nobel Prize.

A drawing of his family, a gift from Captain Rogers, produced from Thor’s memory and surprisingly accurate. He heard them calling for him.

‘I’m coming,’ he whispered to them.

‘I am Groot?’ a young Flora Colossus asked for his well-being.

‘I am Groot,’ he assured, and he didn’t lie. He was fine. _Everything was fine._

And so Thor, an Avenger, a Guardian and a Protector, the last King of Asgard and the God of Thunder, closed his eyes in peace and breathed his final breath.

  


~~~

  


When Thor opened his eyes, he looked at a bright sky. Slowly he rose, examining his body. All signs of age had vanished, leaving no weakness behind. Cautiously he touched his right eye. Rocket’s replacement was gone, his own eye was back. Even his long, golden hair fell down to his shoulders once again.

When he turned around, a huge, beautiful entrance portal extended in front of him. But he had no eyes for the supernal sight, for he recognized the loitering shape next to it.

‘Brother,’ he said, taken aback. 

‘Brother,’ Loki greeted and came to meet him. His appearance was radiant, deserted from all shadows of the past. 

Thor looked at the portal. ‘This is Valhalla.’

Loki rolled his eyes. ‘Your perception is stunning. As usual.’

‘What are you doing outside?’ Thor wondered.

‘Waiting for you,’ Loki replied drily. ‘I had a promise to keep.’

‘All this time you didn’t step in?’ Thor asked startled.

‘Don’t be ridiculous, of course I was inside. It’s incredible, brother. All of what the stories promised, and much more. Every second spent not in there is a complete waste.’

‘Then why you’re here?’

Loki shrugged. ‘I have always come outside when there was a chance you wouldn’t survive one of your great ideas. Which was quite often, to be honest.’

Thor smiled at him, feeling overwhelmed with love and joy. ‘There are many things I want to tell you, brother.’

To his surprise, Loki smiled back affectionately. ‘We have all of eternity to talk, and I’m looking forward to it. Now come, they are awaiting you.’

With these words, he took Thor’s hand gently.

And together they overstepped the threshold of Valhalla, as they were always meant to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have this crazy little headcanon where Valhalla is not only a place for the Asgardians. So, after Tony went there, he had a very good time teaching Loki all kinds of Earth's finest swearwords. At least until Cap died and would yell "Language!" every time... 
> 
> Seriously, thank you for reading. Means a lot to me.


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